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HISTORICAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY 
INCIDENTS 


OP   THE 


EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


WITH 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  (JF  THE  LIVES 


OF 


ALLEN,   BOONE,   KENTON,   AND   OTHER 
CELEBRATED   PIONEERS. 


BY    0.    W.    WEBBER,  K 


AUTHOR  OF  "THE  HUNTER  NATURALIST,"  "SHOT  IN  THE  EYE,"  "OLD  HICKS,  THEOUIDE,' 

"GOLD  MINES  OF  THE  QILA,"  "CHARLES  WINTERFIELD  PAPERS," 

ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

DUANE  RULISON,  QUAKER  CITY  PUBLISHING  HOUSE, 

33    SOUTH    THIRD    STREET. 

1859. 


E  1  7 


4 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
DUANE    RULJSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office,  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


UBRMtt 


PEEFACE. 


THE  following  work  contains  an  ^authentic  narrative 
of  many  of  the  most  remarkable  and  thrilling  events 
which  have  occurred  during  the  past  history  of  the 
United  States.  'Commencing  with  the  formation  of  the 
London  Emigration  Company,  which  sent  forth  the  first 
hardy  and  adventurous  colonists  to  Virginia,  it  presents 
the  most  thrilling  incidents  and  catastrophes  of  American 
history  down  to  the  conclusion  of  the  second  war  be- 
tween this  country  and  England.  ISTor  is  the  work 
confined  merely  to  political  and  military  history.  It 
also  presents  a  view  of  some  of  the  most  interesting 
religious  and  missionary  movements  which  have  been 
put  forth  at  an  early  day  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Indian  tribes  to  Christianity. 

An  explanation,  and  perhaps  an  apology,  may  be 
necessary  to  justify  the  frequent  use  which  the  writer 
has  made  throughout  the  work  of  the  word  "  Sam."  If 
not  properlv  understood,  this  term  will  seem  absurd  and 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

in  bad  taste;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  reader  obtains  the 
proper  idea  involved  in  it,  and  intended  to  be  conveyed 
by  it,  it  will  not  only  appear  justifiable  but  command 
his  respect.  In  the  popular  phraseology  of  the  day,  this 
word  has  become  familiar  as  the  representative  of  the 
Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It 
involves  also  the  idea  of  the  native-born  inhabitants  of 
the  land,  in  opposition  to  the  foreign  element  which  helps 
to  make  up  the  immense  and  heterogeneous  aggregate 
of  our  existing  population.  In  using  this  word  "  Sam," 
therefore,  the  author  was  justified,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a 
term  already  familiar  to  most  readers. 

But  the  writer  has  somewhat  enlarged  and  expanded 
the  meaning  which  he  attaches  to  this  word.  By  it 
he  intended  to  signify  and  embody  the  conception  of 
"  Young  America,"  of  the  "Genius  of  American  Liberty," 
of  the  "  Onward  Pathway  of  Destiny  and  Empire." 
All  these  grand  and  imposing  conceptions  the  writer  em- 
bodies, and  wishes  to  express,  by  the  use  of  this  laconic 
epithet;  and  if  the  reader,  in  perusing  these  diversified 
and  checkered  pages,  will  bear  this  explanation  in  me- 
mory, he  will  in  all  cases  readily  penetrate  the  meaning 
of  the  writer,  and  never  be  incommoded  by  any  appar- 
ent obscurity. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Formation  of  the  London  Company  for  the  Settlement  of  Vir- 
ginia— Birthplace  of  Capt.  John  Smith,  and  early  crosses — 
Enters  the  service  of  Austria — Single  combats  in  presence  of 
both  armies — Prisoner  among  the  Tartars — Romantic  adven- 
tures and  escape — Joins  the  London  Company — Prisoner  among 
the  Indians — Saved  from  death  by  the  youthful  Pocahontas — 
Other  achievements  in  America 9 

CHAPTER    II. 

Historical  depreciation  of  "  Sam's"  Southern  children — Abusive 
epithets  current — Contrast  with  the  first  Northern  Settle- 
ments— Who,  apparently,  under  the  ban  of  Providence  ? — Who 
were  the  Discoverers  and  Explorers  of  the  New  World? 17 

CHAPTER    III. 

Prosperity  of  the  Colony  of  Jamestown  under  the  rule  of  Capt. 
Smith — Sudden  Treachery  of  the  Indians  and  great  Massacre 
of  the  Settlers 25 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Origin  of  "  First  Families"  in  Virginia — Auction  of  wives  to  the 
Virginians — "  Sam's"  idea  of  Aristocracy — Virginians  obtain 
the  right  of  trial  by  Jury — of  Representative  Government 
also — Religious  toleration,  first  granted  them,  repealed 28 

CHAPTER    V. 

Repeal  of  Charter  of  London  Company — The  Bacon  Rebellion — 
Death  of  Bacon,  and  character  of  same 33 

CHAPTER    VI. 

A  new  mystery — The  rise  of  Luther,  and  Protestant  wars — Ad- 
vent of  the  mystery  of  Jesuitism 38 

1*  (5) 


6  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Life  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  founder  of  the  Order — Spiritual  exer- 
cises— The  Weeks — The  Contemplations — Loyola  a  Pilgrim 
to  the  Holy  Places— His  persecutions — His  first  disciples, 
Xavier,  Le  Fevre — Lainez  and  Rodriques  vow  to  go  to  the  Holy 
Land  and  convert  Infidels — Yow  of  perpetual  chastity  and 
poverty — The  vow  of  unquestioning  obedience — Refusal  of  the 
Holy  See  to  recognize  the  Order — Cunning  vow  of  obedience 
to  the  Pope — Obtains  his  recognition — Bull  of  recognition. . .  42 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  deadly  war  of  the  Jesuits  against  Protestantism  continued  in 
the  New  "World — Cant  of  Bancroft  the  Historian — Illustra- 
tions— Martyrdom  ? — Facts  and  Motives  of  Jesuit  Missions — 
League  of  the  Iroquois — Intrigues  of  the  Jesuits — First  Inter- 
colonial War — Predominance  of  Jesuit  Instigation 52 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  Queen  Ann's,  or  "  Second  Intercolonial  War"  between 
"  Sam"  and  the  Order  of  Jesuits — The  Order  not  quite  ready 
for  formidable  operations  in  the  South — Retrospective  glance 
at  acts  and  influences  of  the  Catholic  Priesthood  in  Mexico 
from  the  Conquest — Evidence  of  Clavigero,  the  Catholic  His- 
torian of  Mexico — The  monstrous  destruction  of  the  archives 
of  Historical  Pictures  in  Yucatan  by  an  "  Ecclesiastic" — De- 
struction of  the  most  precious  Arts,  which  were  common 
throughout  Mexico 67 

CHAPTER    X. 

Vandalism  of  the  Catholic  Priesthood  continued  in  New  Mexico — 
Antiquarian  researches  concerning  the  first  Missions  to  New 
Mexico — Conquest  of  California— Various  efforts  to  penetrate 
the  mysterious  gold  region  by  the  Catholic  governors  of  Cal- 
ifornia— Extermination  of  the  Catholic  Spaniards  of  the  Con- 
questator-Occupation — Hidden  ruins  and  strange  Traditions — 
Ruins  of  magnificent  Catholic  Cities — Marvelous  treasures 
won  by  Cortez  from  Montezuma 72 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Alas,  Poor  Mexico! — Marquette  and  Joliet — La  Salle — His 
pretended  retirement  from  the  Order  of  Jesus — His  Fur  Mo- 
nopoly— He  descends  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth — His 
Death — Remarks — Commencement  of  the  Second  Intercolonial 
War..  89 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Commencement  of  the  final  struggle  between  the  French  and 
English  for  the  country  on  the  great  Lakes  and  the  Missis- 
sippi— Fourth  Intercolonial  War 115 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Hildreth's  account  of  the  Progress  and  Conclusion  of  the  Fourth 
Intercolonial  War — Accession  of  George  III. — The  English 
masters  of  the  Continent  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  east 
of  the  Mississippi 146 

CHAPTER    XIY. 

Condition  of  the  Colonies  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Fourth  Inter- 
colonial War — Theory  of  the  English  Parliament — Grenville's 
Scherffe  of  Colonial  Taxation — Passage  and  Repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act., 167 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Dawn  of  the  Revolutionary  Period— Humorous  "  History  of  John 
Bull's  Children" — Contrast  between  causes  which  led  to  the 
Revolution  of  1688  in  England,  and  those  which  led  to  the 
American  Revolution  ;  from  Judge  Drayton's  Charge  in  1776.  185 

CHAPTER    XYI. 

Townshend's  Scheme  of  Colonial  Taxation — Repeal  of  the  new 
taxes,  except  that  on  Tea — Local  Affairs — Trade  of  the  Col- 
onies— Attempt  to  collect  the  Tax  on  Tea — Reminiscences  of 
the  position  of  the  Tea  Ships  at  Boston — Destruction  of  the 
Tea  in  Boston  Harbor 196 

CHAPTER    XYII. 

The  troubles  thicken — Gage  reinforced — Assembly  of  the  first 
Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia 213 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Arnold's  Defeat  before  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point — Gage's 
Proclamation  exempting  from  pardon  John  Hancock  and 
Adams— Battle  of  Bunker  Hill 239 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  first  Sea  Fight,  and  origin  of  the  United  States  Navy — 
Ethan  Allen  taken  captive  and  sent  to  England— Capture  of 
St.  Johns  and  Montreal — The  Expedition  against  Quebec — 
Reorganization  of  the  Army — Lord  Howe  in  Boston — Move- 
ments of  the  British  in  Virginia 259 


8  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XX. 

The  Settlements  in  the  West — Biography  of  Boone,  by  Himself — 
Biography  of  Simon  Kenton 290 

CHAPTEE    XXI. 

Interesting  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  General  Stark,  the  Hero  of 
Bennington — The  Battle  of  Bennington — Boston  a  century 
ago — Captain  William  Cunningham 308 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Sketch  of  Colonel  Daniel  Morgan — The  Non-Resistant  Prin- 
ciple of  the  Quakers — Its  consequences  about  these  times. . . .  337 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  Treaty  with  France— The  Progress  of  the  War,  North  and 
South — The  Cowpens — Yorktown — Surrender  of  Cornwallis — 
Letter  from  General  Washington 350 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Trouble  with  the  Indians — Tecumseh's  League — General  Har- 
rison— Battles  with  the  Indians — The  British  treat  with  them — 
Death  of  Tecumseh 365 

CHAPTER    XXY. 

Causes  of  the  War — Debates  in  Congress — Extracts  from  Mr. 
Clay's  Speeches  on  the  different  phases  of  the  War  Question. .  391 


HISTORICAL 

AND 

KEVOLUTIONAKY    INCIDENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Formation  of  the  London  Company  for  the  Settlement  of  Virginia — Birth- 
place  of  Capt.  John  Smith,  and  early  crosses — Enters  the  service  of  Aus- 
tria— Single  combats  in  presence  of  both  armies — Prisoner  among  the 
Tartars — Romantic  adventures  and  escape  —  Joins  the  London  Com- 

•  pany — Prisoner  among  the  Indians — Saved  from  death  by  the  youthful 
Pocahontas — Other  achievements  in  America. 

PRIOR  to  the  year  1607,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fif- 
teen years  from  the  discovery  of  San  Salvador,  by  Columbus, 
attempts  had  been  made  to  effect  settlements  in  various  parts 
of  North  America ;  but  no  one  proved  successful  until  the 
settlement  at  Jamestown. 

In  1606,  King  James  I,  of  England,  granted  letters  patent, 
an  exclusive  right  or  privilege,  to  two  companies,  called  the 
London  and  Plymouth  Companies,  by  which  they  were  au- 
thorized to  possess  the  lands  in  America,  lying  between  the 
34th  and  45th  degrees  of  north  latitude ;  the  southern  part 
called  South  Virginia,  to  the  London,  and  the  northern,  called 
North  Virginia,  to  the  Plymouth  Company. 

Under  this  patent  the  London  Company  sent  Capt.  Christo- 
pher Newport  to  Virginia,  December  20,  1606,  with  a  colony 
of  one  hundred  and  five  persons  to  commence  a  settlement  on 
the  island  Roanoke,  now  in  North  Carolina.  After  a  tedious 
voyage  of  four  months,  by  the  circuitous  route  of  the  West 
Indies,  he  entered  Chesapeake  Bay,  having  been  driven  north 
of  the  place  of  his  destination. 

Here  it  was  concluded  to  land ;  and  proceeding  up  a  river, 
called  by  the  Indians  Powhattan,  but  by  the  colony,  James 
river,  on  a  beautiful  peninsula,  in  May,  1607,  they  began  the 
first  permanent  settlement  in  North  America,  and  called  it 
Jamestown. 


10  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  government  of  this  colony  was  formed  in  England  by 
the  London  Company.  It  consisted  of  a  council  of  seven  per- 
sons, appointed  by  the  Company,  with  a  president  chosen  by 
the  council  from  their  number,  who  had  two  votes.  All  mat- 
ters of  moment  were  examined  by  this  council,  and  determined 
by  a  majority.  Capt.  Newport  brought  over  the  names  of  this 
council,  carefully  .sealed  in  a  box,  which  was  opened  after 
their  arrival. 

Among  the  most  enterprising  and  useful  members  of  this 
colony,  and  one  of  its  magistrates,  was  Captain  John  Smith. 
As  he  acted  a  distinguished  part  in  the  early  history  of  the 
colony  of  Virginia,  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life  will  be 
interesting. 

He  was  born  in  Willoughby,  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  in 
1579.  From  his  earliest  youth,  he  discovered  a  roving  and 
romantic  genius,  and  appeared  irresistibly  bent  on  extrava- 
gant and  daring  enterprises.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  becom- 
ing tired  of  study,  he  disposed  of  his  satchel  and  books,  with 
the  intention  of  escaping  to  sea ;  but  the  death  of  his  father 
just  at  that  time,  frustrated  his  plans  for  the  present,  and 
threw  him  upon  guardians,  who,  to  repress  the  waywardness 
of  his  genius,  confined  him  to  a  counting-room.  From  a  con- 
finement so  irksome,  however,  he  contrived  to  escape  not  long 
after,  and  with  ten  shillings  in  his  pocket,  entered  the  train 
of  a  young  nobleman  traveling  to  France. 

On  their  arrival  at  Orleans,  he  received  a  discharge  from 
further  attendance  upon  Lord  Bertie,  who  advanced  him 
money  to  return  to  England. 

Smith  had  no  wish,  however,  to  return.  With  the  money 
he  had  received  he  visited  Paris,  from  which  he  proceeded  to 
the  low  countries,  where  he  enlisted  into  the  service  as  a 
soldier.  Having  continued  some  time  in  this  capacity,  he  was 
induced  to  accompany  a  gentleman  to  Scotland,  who  promised 
to  recommend  him  to  the  notice  of  King  James.  Being  dis- 
appointed, however,  in  this,  he  returned  to  England  and  vis- 
ited the  place  of  his  birth.  Not  finding  the  company  there 
that  suited  his  romantic  turn,  he  erected  a  booth  in  some 
wood,  and  in  the  manner  of  a  recluse,  retired  from  society, 
devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  military  history  and  tactics, 
diverting  himself  at  intervals  with  his  horse  and  lance. 

Recovering,  about  this  time,  a  part  of  his  father's  estate, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  It 

which  had  been  in  dispute,  in  1596  he  again  commenced  his 
travels,  being  then  only  seventeen  years  of  age.  His  first 
stage  was  Flanders,  where,  meeting  with  a  Frenchman  who 
pretended  to  be  heir  to  a  noble  family,  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  accompany  him  to  France.  On  their  arrival  at  St.  Valory, 
in  Picardy,  by  the  connivance  of  the  shipmaster,  the  French- 
man and  attendants  robbed  him  of  his  effects,  and  succeeded 
in  making  their  escape. 

Eager  to  pursue  his  travels,  he  endeavored  to  procure  a 
place  on  board  a  man-of-war.  In  one  of  his  rambles,  search- 
ing for  a  ship  that  would  receive  him,  he  accidentally  met 
one  of  the  villains  concerned  in  robbing  him.  Without  ex- 
changing a  word,  they  both  instantly  drew  their  swords. 
The  contest  was  severe,  but  Smith  succeeded  in  wounding  and 
disarming  his  antagonist,  and  obliged  him  to  confess  his  guilt. 
After  this  rencounter,  having  received  pecuniary  assistance 
from  an  acquaintance,  the  Earl  of  Ployer,  he  traveled  along 
the  French  coast  to  Bayonne,  and  then  crossed  to  Marseilles, 
visiting  and  observing  everything  in  his  course  which  had 
reference  to  naval  or  military  architecture. 

At  Marseilles  he  embarked  for  Italy  in  company  with  a 
number  of  pilgrims.  But  here,  also,  new  troubles  awaited 
him.  During  the  voyage,  a  tempest  arising,  the  ship  was 
forced  into  Toulon,  after  leaving  which  contrary  winds  so 
impeded  their  progress  that,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  the  pilgrims 
imputing  their  ill  fortune  to  the  presence  of  a  heretic,  threw 
him  into  the  sea. 

Being  a  good  swimmer,  he  was  enabled  to  reach  the  island 
of  St.  Mary,  off  Nice,  at  no  great  distance,  where  he  was 
taken  on  board  a  ship,  in  which,  altering  his  course,  he  sailed 
to  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  and  thence  coasted  the  Levant. 
Having  spent  some  time  in  this  region,  he  sailed  on  his  re- 
turn, and  on  leaving  the  ship,  received  about  two  thousand 
dollars,  as  his  portion  of  a  rich  prize,  which  they  had  taken 
during  the  voyage. 

Smith  landed  at  Antibes.  He  now  traveled  through  Italy, 
crossed  the  Adriatic,  and  passed  into  Styria,  to  the  seat  of 
Ferdinand,  Archduke  of  Austria.  The  Emperor  being  at 
that  time  at  war  with  the  Turks,  he  entered  his  army  as  a 
volunteer. 

By  means  of  his  valor  and  ingenuity,  aided  by  his  military 


12  HlSTOBICAL  AND 

knowledge  and  experience,  he  soon  distinguished  himself, 
and  was  advanced  to  the  command  of  a  company,  consisting 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  horsemen,  in  the  regiment  of  Count 
Meldrick,  a  nobleman  of  Transylvania. 

The  regiment  in  which  he  served  was  engaged  in  several 
hazardous  enterprises,  in  which  Smith  exhibited  a  bravery 
admired  by  all  the  army,  and  when  Meldrick  left  the  Imperial 
service  for  that  of  his  native  prince,  Smith  followed. 

At  the  siege  of  Eegal  he  was  destined  to  new  adventures. 
Tne  Ottomans  deriding  the  slow  advance  of  the  Transylva- 
nia army,  the  Lord  Turbisha  dispatched  a  messenger  with 
a  challenge,  that  for  the  diversion  of  the  ladies  of  the  place, 
he  would  fight  any  captain  of  the  Christian  troops. 

The  honor  of  accepting  this  challenge  was  determined  by 
lot,  and  fell  on  Smith.  At  the  time  appointed,  the  two 
champions  appeared  in  the  field  on  horseback,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  armies,  and  of  the  ladies  of  the  insulting 
Ottoman,  rushed  impetuously  to  the  attack.  A  short  but 
desperate  conflict  ensued,  at  the  end  of  which  Smith  was  seen 
bearing  the  head  of  the  lifeless  Turbisha  in  triumph  to  his 
general. 

The  fall  of  the  chief  filled  his  friend  Crualgo  with  indig- 
nation, and  roused  him  to  avenge  his  death.  Smith  accord- 
ingly soon  after  received  a  challenge  from  him,  which  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  accept,  and  the  two  exasperated  combatants, 
upon  their  chargers,  fell  with  desperate  fury  upon  each  other. 
Victory  again  followed  the  falchion  of  Smith,  who  sent  the 
Turk  headlong  to  the  ground. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  Smith  to  make  the  advance.  He 
dispatched  a  messenger  therefore  to  the  Turkish  ladies,  that 
if  they  were  desirous  of  more  diversion  of  a  similar  kind,  they 
should  be  welcome  to  his  head,  in  case  their  third  champion 
could  take  it. 

Bonamalgro  tendered  his  services,  and  haughtily  accepted 
the  Christian's  challenge.  When  the  day  arrived  the  spec- 
tators assembled,  and  the  combatants  entered  the  field.  It 
was  an  hour  of  deep  anxiety  to  all;  as  the  horsemen  ap- 
proached a  deathlike  silence  pervaded  the  multitude.  A  blow 
from  the  saber  of  the  Turk  brought  Smith  to  the  ground,  and 
for  *a  moment  it  seemed  as  if  the  deed  of  death  was  done. 
Smith,  however,  was  only  stunned.  He  rose  like  a  lion, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  13 

when  he  shakes  the  dew  from  his  mane  for  the  fight,  and 
vaulting  into  the  saddle,  made  his  falchion  "shed  fast  atone- 
ment for  its  first  delay."  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that 
the  head  of  Bonamalgro  was  added  to  the  number. 

Smith  was  received  with  transports  of  joy  by  the  prince 
of  Transylvania,  who,  after  the  capture  of  the  place,  pre- 
sented him  with  his  picture  set  in  gold,  granted  him  a  pen- 
sion of  three  hundred  ducats  a  year,  and  conferred  on  him  a 
coat  of  arms,  bearing  three  Turks'  heads  in  a  shield. 

In  a  subsequent  battle  between  the  Transylvanian  army 
and  a  body  of  Turks  and  Tartars,  the  former  was  defeated, 
with  a  loss  of  many  killed  and  wounded.  Among  the 
wounded  was  the  gallant  Siuith^T^IIs  df^ss  bespoke  his  con- 
sequence, and  he  was  tre|ffced  kindly.  On  his  recovery  from 
his  wounds,  he  was  sold  to  the  Bashaw  Bogul,  who  sent  him 
as  a  present  to  his  mistress  at  Constantinople,  assuring  her 
that  he  was  a  Bohemian  nobleman  whom  he  had  conquered, 
and  whom  he  now  presented  to  her  as  her  slave. 

The  present  proved  more  acceptable  to  the  lady  than  her 
lord  intended.  As  she  understood  Italian,  in  that  language 
Smith  informed  her  of  his  country  and  quality,  and  by  his 
singular  address  and  engaging  manners,  won  the  affection 
of  her  heart. 

Designing  to  secure  him  to  herself,  but  fearing  lest  some 
misfortune  should  befall  him,  she  sent  him  to  her  brother,  a 
Bashaw,  on  the  borders  of  the  sea  of  Asoph,  with  a  direction 
that  he  should  be  initiated  into  the  manners  and  language, 
as  well  as  the  religion  of  the  Tartars.  From  the  terms  of 
her  letter,  her  brother  suspected  her  design,  and  resolved  to 
disappoint  her.  Immediately  after  Smith's  arrival,  there- 
fore, he  ordered  him  to  be  stripped,  his  head  and  beard  to  be 
shaven,  and  with  an  iron  collar  about  his  neck,  and  a  dress 
of  hair-cloth,  he  was  driven  forth  to  labor  among  some 
Christian  slaves. 

The  circumstances  of  Smith  were  peculiarly  afflicting.  He 
could  indulge  no  hope,  except  from  the  attachment  of  his 
mistress,  but  as  her  distance  was  great,  it  was  improbable 
that  she  would  soon  become  acquainted  with  the  story  of  his 
misfortunes. 

In  the  midst  of  his  distress,  an  opportunity  to  escape  pre- 
sented itself,  but  under  circumstances,  which,  to  a  person  of 
2 


M  HISTORICAL  AND 

a  less  adventurous  spirit,  would  have  served  only  to  high  ten 
his  distress.  His  employment  was  thrashing,  at  the  distance 
of  a  league  from  the  residence  of  the  Bashaw,  who  daily  vis-' 
ited  him,  but  treated  him  with  rigorous  severity,  and  in  a  fit 
of  anger,  even  abused  him  with  blows.  This  last,  was  treat- 
ment to  which  the  independent  spirit  of  Smith  could  not 
submit.  Watching  a  favorable  opportunity,  on  an  occasion  of 
the  tyrant's  visit,  and  when  his  attendants  were  absent,  he  lev- 
eled his  thrashing  instrument  at  him  and  laid  him  in  the  dust. 

He  then  hastily  filled  a  bag  with  grain,  and  mounted  the 
Bashaw's  horse,  put  himself  upon  fortune.  Directing  his 
course  toward  a  desert,  he  entered  its  recesses,  and  continuing 
to  conceal  himself  in  its  obscurities  for  several  days,  at  length 
made  his  escape.  In  sixteen  days  he  arrived  at  Exapolis,  on 
the  river  Don,  where  meeting  with  the  Russian  garrison,  the 
commander  treated  him  kindly,  and  gave  him  letters  of 
recommendation  to  other  commanders  in  that  region. 

He  now  traveled  through  a  part  of  Russia  and  Poland,  and 
at  length  reached  his  friends  in  Transylvania.  At  Leipsic 
he  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  meeting  his  Colonel,  Count  Mel- 
drick,  and  Sigismund,  Prince  of  Transylvania,  who  presented 
him  with  fifteen  hundred  ducats.  His  fortune  being  thus  in 
a  measure  repaired,  he  traveled  through  Germany,  France, 
and  Spain,  and  having  visited  the  kingdom  of  Morocco,  re- 
turned once  more  to  England. 

Such  is  a  rapid  view  of  the  life  of  this  interesting  adven- 
turer, down  to  his  arrival  in  his  native  land.  At  this  time, 
the  settlement  of  America  was  occupying  the  attention  of 
many  distinguished  men  in  England.  The  life  of  Smith, 
united  to  his  fondness  for  enterprises  of  danger  and  difficul- 
ty, had  prepared  him  to  embark  with  zeal,  in  a  project  so 
novel  and  sublime  as  that  of  exploring  the  wilds  of  a  newly 
discovered  continent. 

He  was  soon  attached  to  the  expedition,  about  to  sail  under 
Newport,  and  was  appointed  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the 
colony  sent  over  at  that  time.  Before  the  arrival  of  the 
colony,  his  colleagues  in  office  becoming  jealous  of  his  influ- 
ence, arrested  him  on  the  absurd  charge  that  he  designed  to 
murder  the  council,  usurp  the  government,  and  make  him- 
self king  of  Virginia.  He  was,  therefore,  rigorously  confined 
during  the  remainder  of  the  voyage. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  15 

On  their  arrival  in  the  country  he  was  liberated,  but  could 
not  obtain  a  trial,  although  in  the  tone  of  conscious  integrity, 
he  repeatedly  demanded  it.  The  infant  colony  was  soon  in- 
volved in  perplexity  and  danger.  Notwithstanding  Smith 
had  been  calumniated,  and  his  honor  deeply  wounded,  his 
was  not  the  spirit  to  remain  idle  when  his  services  were 
needed.  Nobly  disdaining  revenge,  he  offered  his  assistance, 
and  by  his  talents,  experience,  and  indefatigable  zeal,  fur- 
nished important  aid  to  the  infant  colony. 

Continuing  to  assert  his  innocence,  and  to  demand  a  trial, 
the  time  at  length  arrived  when  his  enemies  could  postpone 
it  no  longer.  After  a  fair  hearing  of  the  case,  he  was  hon- 
orably acquitted  of  the  charges  alleged  against  him,  and  soon 
after  took  his  seat  in  the  council. 

The  affairs  of  the  colony  becoming  more  settled,  the  active 
spirit  of  Smith  prompted  him  to  explore  the  neighboring 
country.  In  an  attempt  to  ascertain  the  source  of  Chicka- 
homing  river,  he  ascended  in  a  barge  as  far  as  the  stream 
was  uninterrupted.  Designing  to  proceed  still  further,  he 
left  the  barge  in  the  keeping  of  the  crew,  with  strict  injunc- 
tions on  no  account  to  leave  her,  and  with  two  Englishmen 
and  two  Indians  left  the  party.  But  no  sooner  was  he  out 
of  view,  than  the  crew,  impatient  of  restraint,  repaired  on 
board  the  barge,  and  proceeding  some  distance  down  the 
stream,  landed  at  a  place  where  a  body  of  Indians  lay  in  am- 
bush, by  whom  they  were  seized. 

By  means  of  the  crew,  the  route  of  Smith  was  ascertained, 
and  a  party  of  Indians  were  immediately  dispatched  to  take 
him.  On  coming  up  with  him,  they  fired,  killed  the  Eng- 
lishmen, and  wounded  himself.  With  great  presence  of  mind, 
he  now  tied  his  Indian  guide  to  his  left  arm,  as  a  shield  from 
the  enemies'  arrow,  while  with  his  musket  he  dispatched 
three  of  the  most  forward  of  the  assailants. 

In  this  manner  he  continued  to  retreat  toward  his  canoe, 
while  the  Indians,  struck  with  admiration  of  his  bravery, 
followed  with  respectful  caution.  Unfortunately,  coming  to 
a  sunken  spot  filled  with  mire,  while  engrossed  with  eyeing 
his  pursuers,  he  sunk  so  deep,  as  to  be  unable  to  extricate 
himself,  and  was  forced  to  surrender. 

Fruitful  in  expedients  to  avert  immediate  death,  he  pre- 
sented an  ivory  compass  to  the  chief,  whose  attention  was 


16  HISTORICAL  AND 

arrested  by  the  vibrations  of  the  needle.  Taking  advantage 
of  the  impression  which  he  had  thus  made,  partly  by  signs, 
and  partly  by  language,  he  excited  their  wonder  still  more 
by  telling  them  of  its  singular  powers. 

Their  wonder,  however,  seemed  soon  to  abate,  and  their 
attention  returned  to  their  prisoner.  He  was  now  bound 
and  tied  to  a  tree,  and  the  savages  were  preparing  to  direct 
their  arrows  at  his  breast.  At  this  instant  the  chief  holding 
up  the  compass,  they  laid  clown  their  arms,  and  led  him  in 
triumph  to  Powhattan,  their  king. 

Powhattan  and  his  council  doomed  him  to  death,  as  a  man 
whose  courage  and  genius  were  peculiarly  dangerous  to  the 
Indians.  Preparations  were  accordingly  made,  and  when 
the  time  arrived,  Smith  was  led  out  to  execution.  His  head 
was  laid  upon  a  stone,  and  a  club  presented  to  Powhattan, 
who,  himself  claimed  the  honor  of  becoming  the  executioner. 
The  savages  in  silence  were  circling  round,  and  the  giant 
arm  of  Powhattan  had  already  raised  the  club  to  strike  the 
fatal  blow,  when,  to  his  astonishment,  the  young  and  beau- 
tiful Pocahontas,  his  daughter,  with  a  shriek  of  terror, 
rushed  from  the  throng,  and  threw  herself  upon  the  body 
of  Smith.  At  the  same  time  she  cast  an  imploring  look 
toward  her  furious  but  astonished  father,  and  in  all  the 
eloquence  of  mute,  but  impassioned  sorrow,  besought  his  life. 

The  remainder  of  the  scene  was  honorable  to  Powhattan. 
The  club  of  the  chief  was  still  uplifted,  but  a  father's  pity 
had  touched  his  heart,  and  the  eye  that  had  first  kindled 
with  wrath,  was  now  fast  losing  its  fiercenesss.  He  looked 
round  as  if  to  collect  his  fortitude,  or  perhaps,  to  find  an  ex- 
cuse for  his  weakness,  in  the  pity  of  the  attendants.  A 
similar  sympathy  had  melted  the  savage  throng,  and  seemed 
to  join  in  the  petition,  which  the  weeping  Pocahontas  felt, 
but  durst  not  utter:  "My  father!  let  the  prisoner  live." 
Powhattan  raised  his  daughter,  and  the  captive,  scarcely  yet 
assured  of  safety,  from  the  earth. 

Shortly  after,  Powhattan  dismissed  Captain  Smith  with 
assurances  of  friendship,  and  the  next  morning,  accompanied 
with  a  guard  of  twelve  men,  he  arrived  safely  at  James- 
town, after  a  captivity  of  seven  weeks.0 

0  Burk's  Virginia. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Historical  depreciation  of  Sam's  Southern  children — Abusive  epithets  cur. 
rent — Contrast  with  the  first  Northern  Settlements — Who,  apparently, 
under  the  ban  of  Providence  ? — Who  were  the  Discoverers  and  Explorers 
of  the  New  World? 

So  much  for  the  peerless  chevalier — the  Father  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  Explorer  of  the  North,0 — illustrious  John  Smith  ! 
Nor  is  this  all  of  his  career.  It  had  been  chiefly  through 
his  influence,  that  James  I  was  induced  to  grant  the  "  first 
colonial  charter "  under  which  the  English  were  planted  in 
America;  although  the  great  majority  of  Sam's  children 
have  never  to  this  day,  heard  that  there  was  any  other  place 
settled  in  "  the  beginning,"  but  Plymouth,  or  any  code  of 
laws  instituted  than  the  precious  "Body"  of  Eights,  with  its 
"  Blue  "  Lights,  or  Laws,  to  which  we  have  referred  ;  yet 
not  only  is  it  true,  that  to  John  Smith  and  Virginia  we  owe 
the  "first  colonial  charter"  in  1606,  but  to  John  Smith  and 
Virginia  do  we  owe,  in  June,  1619,  the  "  first  colonial  assem- 
bly "  that  ever  met  in  America,  and  which  was  convened  at 
Jamestown. 

While  John  Carver,  Cotton  Mather,  and  the  "  Saintly 
Winthrop,"  are  names  canonized  throughout  the  land  as  the 
select  forerunners  of  Freedom — so  many  "Baptists"  pro- 
claiming in  the  wilderness  the  "  good  news"  of  the  approach- 
ing regeneration  of  humanity — John  Smith  remains  plain 
"John  Smith,"  who  was  "saved  by  Pocahontas." 

°In  1614,  Captain  John  Smith  s  died  from  England,  with  two  ships,  to 
America.  He  ranged  the  coast  from  Penobscot  to  Cape  Cod.  On  his  return 
to  England,  he  presented  a  map  of  the  country  to  Prince  Charles,  who 
named  it  New  England.  Thus  was  the  first  survey  of  her  own  coast,  and 
which  resulted  in  giving  her  a  name,  made  by  the  founder  of  these  South 
ern  institutions  now  sc  villified  by  New  England. 

2*  17 


18  HISTORICAL  AND 

Sam  says  fiddle-faddle  !  the  "  brazen  tongue  "  wagged  by 
tliese  clerkly  fellows  is  tiresome ;  they  have  kept  up  one 
eternal  toooo  !  too-oo  !  too-oot !  in  defense  of  the  saintly 
villains  and  villainies  of  their  early  times  when  nobody  was 
attacking  them.  For  who  troubled  themselves  about  it, 
since  vices  and  cruelties  were,  as  everybody  knew,  to  be  ex- 
pected in  the  settlement  of  all  new  countries  ?  But  not 
content  with  taking  their  chances  in  the  impartial  recogni- 
tion of  mankind,  and  confining  themselves  to  the  plain  nar- 
rative of  facts,  they  have  exhibited  a  systematic  effort  to 
forestall  what  might  be  expected  to  become  the  natural  sen- 
timent— a  conscious,  nervous  special  pleading  in  advance,  has 
betrayed  the  apprehension  of  justifiable  attack.  The  pur- 
pose to  "make  a  character"  where  they  could  lay  claim  to 
none.  Demanding  of  the  credulity  of  mankind  for  the  Pu- 
ritan, the  united  attributes  of  apostle,  saint,  lawgiver,  states- 
man, warrior,  and  psalmodist,  they  dismiss  the  renowned  and 
noble  founder  of  Virginia  with  the  contemptuous  implication 
of  petty  adventure — his  illustrious  name  coupled  with  a  silly 
story  of  rescue  by  a  forlorn  Indian  maiden,  (who  was  in  fact,  a 
little  child) — as  though  this  "lovely  Indian  princess"  were 
indeed  the  heroic  actor  in  the  only  scene  in  his  career  worth 
recording,  while  the  poor  John  Smith  was  merely  a  passive 
instrument. 

Nor  is  this  all,  saith  Sam.  While,  although  with  preten- 
tious humility,  they  have  very  properly,  never  emulated  the 
"gallant  spirit"  of  the  cavaliers,  yet,  as  a  saving  clause  for 
their  self-righteousness,  they  have  stigmatized  them  as  "  dis- 
solute gallants,  packed  off  to  escape  worse  destinies  at  home, 
broken  tradesmen,  gentlemen  impoverished  in  spirit  and  for- 
tune, rakes  and  libertines  ;  men  more  fitted  to  corrupt  than 
to  found  a  commonwealth,"  °  winding  up  this  delectable  cata- 
logue with  the  pious  exclamation :  "It  was  not  the  will  of 
God  that  the  new  State  shouM  be  formed  of  these  materials — 
that  such  men  were  to  be  the  fathers  of  a  progeny  born  on 
the  American  soil,  who  were  one  day  to  assert  American 
liberty  by  their  eloquence,  and  defend  it  by  their  valor."| 

Then  as  cumulative  evidence  that  the  hand  of  Providence 
had  clearly  interposed  to  prevent  such  prayerless  "  vaga- 

0  Bancroft,  page  138,  1st.  vol.  jldem,  page  138. 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  19 

bonds"  from  becoming  fathers  of  a  State,  they  say  in  the 
next  breath:  "John  Smith,  being  wounded  and  compelled  to 
return  to  Europe,  at  his  departure,  he  had  left  more  than 
four  hundred  and  ninety  persons  in  the  colony  ;  in  six  months, 
indolence,  vice,  and  famine  reduced  the  number  to  sixty,  and 
these  were  so  feeble  and  dejected,  that  if  relief  had  been 
delayed  but  ten  days  longer,  they  must  have  utterly  per- 
ished."0 

Away  with  such  driveling  cant,  says  Sam.  If  suffering 
from  famine  and  other  necessary  and  usually  attendant  dan- 
gers of  settlement  in  a  new  country,  be  any  evidence  that 
God  has  willed  that  a  set  of  "  vagabonds  "  should  not  be  per- 
mitted to  perpetuate  their  spawn  upon  the  face  of  a  new 
country,  destined  to  be  the  home  of  a  free  people,  what  be- 
comes of  your  own  story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  "  Pilgrim 
Fathers?"  "After  some  days  they  began  to  build  a  diffi- 
cult task  for  men  of  whom  one-half  were  wasting  away  with 
consumptions  and  lung  fevers."  f 

This  only  a  few  days  after  landing,  too,  quoth  Sam : 
pretty  recreations  these  ascetic  self-denying  Puritans  must 
have  indulged  in  on  board  that  same  immaculate  May- 
Flower  !  Ask  any  of  my  physicians  out  of  New  England 
what  habits  are  most  likely  to  engender  consumption,  under 
such  circumstances,  thunders  he  in  wrath,  ask  them  too  if 
men  usually  "  waste  away  with  consumptions  and  lung- 
fevers  "  in  three  or  four  days ! — and  you  will  be  apt  to  find 
why  it  is  that  these  fellows  did  not  emulate  the  "  gallant 
spirit "  of  the  cavaliers. 

But  this  is  not  all,  continues  the  inexorable  Sam,  whose 
pluck  is  up  at  hearing  his  southern  children  th  s  gratuitously 
made  the  sole  plenary  examples  of  the  results  of  vice,  in- 
dolence and  crime. 

Was  the  hand  of  Providence  in  it  for  the  extermination 
of  the  embryo  of  a  race  of  hypocritical  blue-law  enactors, 
persecuting  witch-burners  and  savage  kidnappers,  when  "  a 
shelter  not  less  than  comfort,  had  been  wanting,  the  living 
being  scarcely  able  to  bury  the  dead,  the  well  not  sufficient 
to  take  care  of  the  sick  ?  At  the  season  of  distress,  there 
were  but  seven  able  to  render  assistance.  The  benevolent 

0  Bancroft,  page  140,  vol.  1.  fldem,  page  313,  vol.  1. 


20  HISTORICAL  AND 

Carver  had  been  appointed  Governor ;  at  his  first  landing 
he  had  lost  a  son ;  soon  after  the  departure  of  the  May- 
Flower  for  England  his  health  sunk  under  a  sudden  attack, 
and  his  wife,  broken-hearted,  followed  him  in  death. 
William  Bradford,  the  historian  of  the  colony,  was  soon 
chosen  his  successor.  The  record  of  misery  was  kept  by  the 
graves  of  the  governor  and  half  his  company."  Was  this 
the  hand  of  Providence?  But  let  us  hear  more.  "But  if 
sickness  ceased  to  prevail,  the  hardships  of  privation  and  want 
remained  to  be  encountered.  In  the  autumn  an  arrival  of 
new  emigrants,  who  came  unprovided  with  food,  compelled  the 
whole  colony,  for  six  months  in  succession,  to  subsist  on  half 
allowance  only."  "  I  have  seen  men,"  says  Winslow,  "  stag- 
ger by  reason  of  faintness  for  want  of  food."  They  were 
once  saved  from  famishing  by  the  benevolence  of  fishermen 
off  the  coast.  Sometimes  they  suffered  from  oppressive  ex- 
action on  the  part  of  ships  that  sold  them  provisions  at  the 
most  exorbitant  prices.  Nor  did  their  miseries  soon  termi- 
nate. Even  in  the  third  year  of  the  settlement  the  victuals 
were  so  entirely  spent,  that  "  they  knew  not  at  night  where 
to  have  a  bit  in  the  morning."  Tradition  declares  that,  "  at 
one  time,  the  colonists  were  reduced  to  a  pint  of  corn,  which 
being  parched  and  distributed,  gave  to  each  individual  only 
five  kernels ;  but  rumor  falls  short  of  reality  ;  for  three  or 
four  months  together  they  had  no  corn  whatever.  When  a 
few  of  their  old  friends  arrived  to  join  them,  a  lobster  or  a 
piece  of  fish,  without  bread  or  anything  else  but  a  cup  of  fair 
spring  water,  was  the  best  dish  which  the  hospitality  of  the 
whole  colony  could  offer.  Neat  cattle  were  not  introduced 
till  the  fourth  year  of  the  settlement.  Yet  during  all  this 
season  of  self-denial  and  suffering,  the  cheerful  confidence 
of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  mercies  of  Providence  remained  un- 
shaken." 

Ho !  ho !  says  Sam,  with  a  laugh  that  makes  the  very 
codfish  stand  upon  their  tails  in  wonder.  "  The  living  scarce 
able  to  bury  the  dead !  the  well  not  able  to  take  care  of  the 
sick !"  but  seven  were  "  able  to  render  assistance."  "  Colonists 
reduced  to  five  grains  of  corn  apiece !"  this  seems  a  bad  busi- 
ness !  What  was  the  hand  of  Providence — of  which  they 
are  so  fond  of  speaking  familiarly — doing  with  these  saints 
about  these  times  ?  Not  exterminating  them  as  unfit  to 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  21 

become  the  "progenitors  of  freemen  I"  oh,  no !  "  Chastening 
us ;  but  as  for  those  blackguard  cavaliers  down  yonder  at 
Jamestown,  he  is  exterminating  them  !"  Hoo  !  ho  !  yet  you 
were  the  nearest  exterminated  of  the  two !  But  as  "  the 
cheerful  confidence  of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  mercies  of  Pro- 
vidence remained  unshaken,"  we  must  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  Providence  of  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Providence  of 
the  cavaliers  were  two  different  powers  in  the  "  State  " — In 
no  event  does  this  seem  more  apparent  than  in  the  fact  that 
this  doleful  sixty, — the  remnant  of  the  doomed  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety — even  after  having  been  joined  by  a 
destitute  reinforcement, — which  had  been  wrecked  on  the 
way  to  join  them  with  supplies,  thus  rendering  their  despera- 
tion even  more  forlorn — having  embarked  with  the  mad  hope 
of  returning  across  the  sea  in  ships  built  of  cedar  logs,  with- 
out provisions,  met  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  long  boat 
of  Lord  Delaware,  who  had  just  arrived  on  the  coast  with 
new  emigrants  and  abundant  supplies. 

Now,  if  Providence  be  the  benign  and  solemn  source  of  a 
great  and  unexpected  good  to  mankind  for  wise  purposes, 
beyond  its  ken,  which  is*  the  aspect  of  that  majestic  power, 
in  which  wise  and  good  men  love  best  to  regard  its  mysterious 
doings,  then  does  Sam  look  upon  this  as  one  of  those  events 
which  might  justly  be  styled  providential !  That  thus  these 
"dissolute"  and  "  vagabond77  sons  of  Sam  did  so  regard  it,  let 
this  same  narrator  from  whom  we  have  been  quoting  show. 
In  the  intellectual  zeal  of  natural  justice,  he  sometimes 
manages  to  forget  his  cue  of  Puritan,  and  burst  forth  into 
an  involuntary  apotheosis  of  truth  without  regard  to  locality. 

It  was  on  the  tenth  day  of  June  that  the  restoration  of 
the  colony  was  solemnly  begun  by  supplications  to  God.  A 
deep  sense  of  the  infinite  mercies  of  his  providence  overawed 
the  colonists  who  had  been  spared  by  famine,  the  emigrants 
who  had  been  shipwrecked  and  yet  preserved,  and  the  new 
comers  who  found  wretchedness  and  want  when  they  had  ex- 
pected the  contentment  of  abundance.  The  firmness  of  their 
resolution  repelled  despair. 

"  It  is,77  said  they,  "  the  arm  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  who 
would  have  his  people  pass  the  R>d  Sea  and  the  wilderness, 
and  then  possess  the  land  of  Canaan.77  Dangers  avoided 
inspire  trust  in  providence.  "  Doubt  not/7"  said  the  emi- 


22  HISTORICAL  AND 

grants  to  the  people  of  England,  "  'God  will  raise  one  State 
and  build  his  church  in  this  excellent  clime/  After  solemn 
exercises  of  religion,  Lord  Delaware  caused  his  commission 
to  he  read ;  a  consultation  was  immediately  held  on  the  good 
of  the  colony,  and  its  government  was  organized  with  mild- 
ness hut  decision.  The  evils  of  faction  were  healed  by  the 
unity  of  the  administration  and  the  dignity  and  virtues  of 
the  governor,  and  the  colonists,  excited  by  mutual  emulation , 
performed  their  tasks  with  alacrity.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  day  they  assembled  in  the  little  church,  which  was  kept 
neatly  trimmed  with  the  wild  flowers  of  the  country ;  next 
they  returned  to  their  houses  to  receive  their  allowance  of 
food.  The  settled  hours  of  labor  were  from  six  in  the  morn- 
ing till  ten,  and  from  two  in  the  afternoon  till  four.  The 
house  was  warm  and  secure,  covered  above  with  strong  boards, 
and  matted  on  the  inside  after  the  fashion  of  the  Indian 
wigwams.  Security  and  affluence  were  returning.77 

Sam  thinks  that  this  can  hardly  be  said  to  describe  a 
doomed  and  God-forsaken  crew  of  "profligate  vagabonds,77 
nor  can  he  conceive  from  whence  on  the  face  of  the  story  the 
"  licentiousness 77  so  grievously  complained  of  can  proceed, 
unless  it  be  in  the  contrast  which  the  "  little  church  kept 
neatly  trimmed  with  the  wild  flowers  of  the  country 77  offered 
to  the  sulky  smoke-dens  in  which  the  Pilgrims  offered  up 
their  morose  and  vindictive  oblations  to  the  God  of  Light 
and  Peace. 

"  Security  and  affluence  were  returning,77  yet  Sam  insists 
that  the  unfortunate  "  sixty 77  dedicated  by  Providence  to 
annihilation  were  still  left  to  multiply  and  replenish  beneath 
the  protecting  arm  of  the  "  Lord  of  Hosts  77  whom  they  so 
devoutly  adored  for  his  mercies,  and  that,  too,  in  spite  of 
the  "  particular  Providence 77  of  their  more  unfortunate 
northern  brothers. 

But,  forsooth,  what  seems  to  have  constituted  the  knights 
and  gentlemen,  the  peers  and  followers  of  Columbus,  the 
Cabots,  Cortes,  De  Soto,  Raleigh,  and  John  Smith — "dissolute 
vagabonds  77  and  "  mere  adventurers  ?77  "  They  came  to 
search  for  gold,7'  snuffle  my  puritanical  boobies  ;  says  Sam, 
and  what  of  it  ?  To  what  other  instincts  than  the  love  of 
gold  and  glory  do  we  owe  the  commerce  and  expanding 
civilization  of  the  old  wqrld,  as  well  as  the  discovery,  con- 


KEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  23 

quests,  and  civilization  of  the  New  ?  America  was  then  the 
California  of  Europe ;  your  disinterested  sons  have  only 
crowded  into  California  "for  liberty  to  worship  God"  of 
course — or  "  to  found  an  empire,"  no  doubt. 

When  your  fractious,  meddlesome  and  noisy  progenitors, 
were  driven  out  of  England  for  England's  good,  and  could 
not  stay  even  in  fat,  frouzy  and  most  patient  Holland,  when 
the  fatigued  toleration  of  Europe  would  no  longer  permit  you 
a  spot  whereon  to  rest  the  soles  of  your  feet ;  then,  of  course, 
as  "America  was  the  region  of  romance,  where  the  heated 
imagination  could  indulge  in  the  boldest  delusions,  where  the 
simple  natives  wore  the  most  precious  ornaments,  and  by  the 
side  of  the  clear  runs  of  water  the  sands  sparkled  with 
gold ;"°  thither,  your  eyes,  in  common  with  those  of  all  the 
world,  were  turned,  and  the  spirit  moved  you  to  "  found  an 
empire  "  based  upon  "the  right  to  worship  God." 

Not  by  any  manner  of  means  that  you  were  moved  thereto 
by  any  lust  for  gold  or  base  carnal  desire  whatever  ! — al- 
though, at  that  time,  gold  was  being  sought  with  equal 
eagerness  along  the  whole  Atlantic  border — from  the  voyagers 
in  search  of  a  northwest  passage  among  the  arctic  ice  and 
snow,  who  took  home  the  holds  of  their  vessels  filled  with 
what  they  thought  to  be  golden  earth — to  the  ungodly  ad- 
venturers at  Jamestown  in  the  South! 

But  "  who  would  have  expected  to  find  gold  on  the  bleak 
rocks  of  Plymouth?"  and  beside,  their  historian  says,  "  They 
knew  they  were  pilgrims,  and  looked  not  much  on  these 
things,  but  lifted  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  their  dearest 
country,  and  quieted  their  spirits."! 

Very  well — it  would  seem  then  that  they  had  indeed  no 
other  country  to  lift  their  eyes  to,  for  the  same  historian 
says,  "  they  had  no  homes  to  go  to — so  that  at  last  the 
magistrates  were  glad  to  be  rid-  of  them  on  any  terms."  It 
would  not  do  to  call  these  people  "  vagabonds,"  of  course, 
because,  with  a  sanctimonious  upturning  of  the  eyes  they 
had  said  "they  looked  not  much  on  these  things!"  But  as 
with  an  impious  familiarity  which  has  always  characterized 
their  modes  of  speech,  they  "  found  God  going  along  with 
them,"  and  turned  their  eyes  upon  North  Virginia,  applying 
to  the  Virginia  Company  for  a  patent. 

0  Bancroft,  f  Bradford. 


24  HISTORICAL  AND 

Now  Virginia  was  understood  to  be  the  safest  place  around 
which  the  aroma  of  hidden  wealth  in  treasure  clung,  and 
thither  they  set  out  to  go  in  the  Speedwell  and  the  Mayflower. 
They  were  driven  off  their  course  by  storms,  and  landed  at 
Plymouth  "on  compulsion!" 

But  Sam  would  remind  them  that  "  the  beauty  and  im- 
measurable wealth  of  Guiana  had  been  painted  in  dazzling 
colors  by  the  brilliant  eloquence  of  Raleigh ;  but  the  terrors 
of  the  tropical  .climate,  the  wavering  pretensions  of  England 
to  the  soil,  and  the  proximity  of  bigoted  Catholics  led  them 
rather  to  look  toward  the  most  northern  parts  of  Virginia." :; 

We  can  very  well  comprehend  now,  quoth  Sam,  how,  in 
their  humility,  they  have  never  emulated  the  "  gallant 
spirit"  of  the  "vagabond"  cavaliers! 

How  many  new  worlds  would  have  been  discovered  ?  How 
many  Perus  and  Mexicos  conquered?  How  many  Missis- 
sippis  found  and  Virginias  built  up,  had  these  stigmatized 
cavaliers  been  turned  aside  by  the  "terrors"  of  tropical 
rli mates,  wavering  pretensions  of  kings,  or  proximity  of  ad- 
verse creeds? 

0  Bancroft 


CHAPTER    III. 

Prosperity  of  the  Colony  of  Jamestown  under  the  rule  of  Captain  Smith — 
Sudden  Treachery  of  the  Indians  and  great  Massacre  of  the  Settlers. 

BUT  enough  of  this.  It  would  seem  that  under  the  tute- 
lary guardianship  of  Smith,  the  colonies  were  now  prospering 
greatly.  The  first  cotton  grown  in  the  United  States  had 
now  been  planted  under  his  auspices  (1621);  and  its  "plen- 
tiful coming  up"  had  been  a  subject  of  interest  in  America 
and  England.  "Yes,"  says  Sam,  "these  libertine  vagabonds 
seem  likely  to  prove  themselves  first  in  everything." 

The  relations  with  the  natives  had  been,  as  yet,  compara 
tively  pleasant.  There  had  been  quarrels,  but  no  wars. 
From  the  first  landing  of  colonists  in  Virginia,  the  power  of 
the  natives  was  despised.  Their  strongest  weapons  were  such 
arrows  as  they  could  shape  without  the  use  of  iron — such 
hatchets  as  could  be  made  from  stone,  and  an  English  mas- 
tiff seemed  to  them  a  terrible  adversary. 

Within  sixty  miles  of  Jamestown,  it  is  computed,  there 
were  no  more  than  five  thousand  souls,  or  about  fifteen  hundred 
warriors.  The  natives,  naked  and  feeble  compared  with  the 
Europeans,  were  nowhere  concentrated  in  considerable  vil- 
lages, but  dwelt  dispersed  in  hamlets,  with  from  forty  to  sixty 
in  each  company.  Few  places  had  more  than  two  hundred, 
and  many  had  less.  It  was  also  unusual  for  any  large  por- 
tion of  the  tribes  to  assemble  together. 

Smith  once  met  a  party  that  seemed  to  amount  to  seven 
hundred,  and  so  complete  was  the  superiority  conferred  by 
the  use  of  fire-arms,  that  with  fifteen  men  he  was  able  tc 
withstand  them  all.  No  uniform  care  had  been  taken  to  con 
ciliate  their  good-will,  although  their  condition  had  been 
improved  by  some  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  A  house 
3  26 


26  HISTORICAL  AND 

having  been  built  for  Opeehancanough,  after  the  English 
fashion,  he  took  such  delight  in  the  lock  and  key  that  he 
would  lock  and  unlock  the  door  a  hundred  times  a  day,  and 
thought  the  device  incomparable. 

When  Wyatt  arrived,  the  natives  expressed  fear  lest  his 
intentions  should  be  hostile.  He  assured  them  of  his  wish  to 
preserve  inviolable  peace,  and  the  emigrants  had  no  use  for 
tire-arms  except  against  a  deer  or  fowl.  The  penalty  of  death 
for  teaching  an  Indian  to  use  a  musket  was  forgotten ;  and 
they  were  now  employed  as  fowlers  and  huntsmen.  The 
plantations  of  the  English  were  widely  extended  in  unsus- 
pecting confidence  wherever  rich  land  invited  to  the  culture 
of  tobacco ;  nor  were  solitary  places  avoided,  since  there  would 
be  less  competition  for  the  ownership  of  the  soil. 

Powhattan,  the  father  of  Pocahontas,  remained,  after  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter,  the  firm  friend  of  the  English. 
He  died  in  1618,  and  his  younger  brother  was  now  the  sole 
heir  to  his  influence.  Should  the  native  occupants  of  the  soil 
consent  to  be  driven  from  their  ancient  patrimony  ?  Should 
their  feebleness  submit  to  contempt,  injury,  and  the  loss  of 
their  lands?  The  desire  of  self-preservation,  the  necessity 
of  self-defense  seemed  to  demand  an  active  resistance.  To 
preserve  their  dwellings,  the  English  must  be  exterminated. 
In  open  battle  the  Indians  would  be  powerless. 

Conscious  of  their  weakness,  they  could  not  hope  to  accom- 
plish their  end,  except  by  a  preconcerted  surprise.  The  crime 
was  one  of  savage  ferocity.  They  were  timorous  and  quick 
of  apprehension,  and  consequently  treacherous.  The  attack 
was  concocted  with  impenetrable  secrecy.  To  the  very  last 
hour  the  Indians  preserved  the  language  of  friendship ;  they 
borrowed  the  boats  of  the  English  to  attend  their  own  as- 
semblies ;  on  the  very  morning  of  the  massacre  they  were 
in  the  houses  and  at  the  tables  of  those  whose  death  they 
were  plotting.  "  Sooner,"  said  they,  "  shall  the  sky  fall  than 
peace  be  violated  on  our  part.77 

At  length,  on  the  22d  of  March,  at  one  and  at  the  same 
instant  of  time,  the  Indians  fell  upon  an  unsuspecting  popu- 
lation, which  was  scattered  through  distant  villages  extending 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  The 
onset  was  so  sudden  that  the  blow  was  not  discerned  until  it 
fell.  None  were  spared  —  children  and  women  as  well  as 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  27 

men ;  missionaries,  who  had  cherished  the  natives  with  un- 
tiring gentleness ;  the  liberal  benefactors  from  whom  they 
had  received  daily  kindnesses ;  all  were  murdered  with  indis- 
criminate barbarity  and  every  aggravation  of  cruelty.  The 
savages. fell  upon  the  dead  bodies,  as  if  it  had  been  possible 
to  commit  on  them  fresh  murder. 

In  one  hour  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  persons  were 
cut  off,  yet  the  carnage  was  not  universal,  and  Virginia  was 
saved  from  so  disastrous  a  grave.  The  night  before  the 
execution  of  the  conspiracy,  it  was  revealed  by  a  converted 
Indian  to  an  Englishman  whom  he  wished  to  rescue.  James- 
town and  the  nearest  settlements  were  well  prepared  against 
an  attack,  and  the  savages,  as  timid  as  they  were  ferocious, 
fled  with  precipitation  from  the  apparent  wakeful  resistance. 
Thus  the  larger  part  of  the  colony  was  saved. 

A  year,  after  the  massacre,  there  still  remained  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  men.  The  total  number  of  the  emigrants 
had  exceeded  four  thousand.0 

Thus  it  seems  that  these  "  dissolute  adventurers"  had,  up 
to  this  time,  cultivated  the  most  amicable  relations  with  their 
savage  neighbors,  and  that  it  was  not  until  this  horrible 
massacre  of  the  trusting  colonists,  that  "  plans  of  industry 
were  entirely  succeeded  by  schemes  of  revenge,"  and  a  war 
of  extermination  ensued.  These  conditions,  Sam  thinks,  as 
something  unlike  those  which  preceded  the  ruthless  slaughter 
of  the  miserable  and  defenseless  Pequods  by  his  sanctimoni- 
ous sons !  Nor  does  Sam  hear  anything  of  "  Rum "  as  a 
contracting  party  in  the  peace  which  was  made  with  Pow- 
hattan. 

°  This  account  we  epitomize  from  Bancroft. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Origin  of  "First  Families"  in  Virginia — Auction  of  wives  to  the  Vir- 
ginians— Sam's  idea  of  Aristocracy — Virginians  obtain  the  right  of  trial 
by  Jury — of  Representative  Government  also — Religious  toleration  first 
granted  them,  repealed. 

BUT  Sam  turns  now  suddenly  toward  the  South,  and  a  hu- 
morous twinkle  broadens  on  his  wide  countenance,  as  he  re- 
gards for  a  moment  the  lordly  airs  of  "  some  of  our  First 
Families  " — then  planting  his  huge  finger  upon  the  page  of 
History  which  follows — he  bursts  into  a  great  guffaw. 

"  *  The  people  of  Virginia  had  not  been  settled  in  their 
minds,7  and,  as  before  the  recent  changes,  they  had  gone 
there  with  the  design  of  ultimately  returning  to  England,  it 
was  necessary  to  multiply  attachments  to  the  soil.  Few 
women  had  as  yet  dared  to  cross  the  Atlantic ;  but  now,  the 
promise  of  prosperity,  induced  ninety  agreeable  persons, 
young  and  incorrupt,  to  listen  to  the  wishes  of  the  company, 
and  the  benevolent  advice  of  Sandys,  and  to  embark  for  the 
colony,  where  they  were  assured  of  a  welcome.  They  were 
transported  at  the  expense  of  the  corporation,  and  were  mar- 
ried to  the  tenants  of  the  company,  or  to  men  who  were  able 
to  support  them,  and  who  willingly  defrayed  the  cost  of  their 
passage,  which  was  rigorously  demanded.  The  adventure, 
which  had  been  in  part  a  mercantile  speculation,  succeeded 
so  well,  that  it  was  designed  to  send,  the  next  year,  another 
consignment  of  one  hundred ;  but  before  these  could  be  col- 
lected, the  company  found  itself  so  poor,  that  its  design  could 
be  accomplished  only  by  a  subscription.  After  some  delays, 
sixty  were  actually  dispatched — maids  of  virtuous  education, 
young,  handsome,  and  well  recommended.  The  price  rose 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
28 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  29 

of  tobacco,  or  even  more ;  so  that  all  the  original  charges 
might  be  repaid.  The  debt  for  a  wife  was  a  debt  of  honor, 
and  took  precedence  of  any  other ;  and  the  company  in  con^ 
ferring  employments,  gave  preference  to  the  married  men. 
Domestic  ties  were  formed ;  virtuous  sentiments  and  habits 
of  thrift  ensued;  the  tide  of  emigration  swelled;  within 
three  years,  fifty  patents  for  land  were  granted,  and  three 
thousand,  five  hundred  persons  found  their  way  to  Virginia, 
which  was  a  refuge  even  for  '  Puritans/ ;; 

"Hoo,  hoo,  hoo!" — "  first  families"  indeed !  when  your 
great,  great  grandmothers,  were  bought  off  of  transport  ships 
for  a  hundred  and  twenty  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of 
tobacco  each.  "  Here  is  the  aristocratic  for  you  !"  he  shouts 
hoarsely,  clutching  with  outstretched  arm  the  tufted  crest 
of  an  Alleghany  summit,  which  he  rocks  and  heaves  as  if  to 
tear  it  by  its  roots  from  out  his  path,  and  thereby  shaking 
the  chain  along  its  whole  length  into  a  shiver.  "  The  power 
and  will  to  do — to  move — to  overcome — this  is  my  aris- 
tocracy." 

The  indignation  of  Sam  was  only  transient,  for  as  he  saw 
the  startled  mountains  cradled  back  to  sleep  again  in  short- 
ened vibrations,  he  smiled  complacently,  and  said,  with  a 
slow  speech  and  humorous  twinkle :  "  Why,  that  youngster 
of  mine,  California,  will,  at  this  rate,  soon  be  pluming  him- 
self upon  a  special  aristocratic  caste,  sprung  from  the  loins 
of  those  innocent  maidens  captivated  and  bewitched  into  his 
embraces  by  that  enterprising  admirer  of  the  multiplication 
and  replenishing  of  the  earth  system — Mrs.  Farnham ! "  But 
then,  he  adds  thoughtfully,  with  his  foot  in  a  notch,  and  leaning 
his  elbow  upon  the  now  quiet  summit  of  the  mountains — as 
he  looks  out  on  the  West — "  this  young  fellow  is  rather 
knowing  of  his  age ;  he  was  born  with  a  pickaxe  in  his  hand; 
and  understands  that  honor  is  alone  to  be  won  by  labor — 
he '11  do." 

But  the  mood  of  Sam  has  suddenly  changed ;  and  so  ye 
slavish  "  Howlers  of  the  East,"  it  has  never  got  into  your 
"  round  heads,"  that  after  the  formal  concession  of  "  legisla- 
tive liberties,"  the  next  charter  of  rights  obtained  for  the 
"  liberty  of  which  ye  cant  so  much,  was  that  of  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury  of  peers"  in  this  profligate  and  ungodly 
colony  of  Virginia !  and  furthermore,  that  this  right  was 
3* 


30  HISTORICAL  AND 

obtained  in  defiance  of  the  interference  of  King  James,  by  tbe 
London  Company,  who  elected  as  Treasurer,  the  Earl  of 
Southampton,  the  early  friend  of  Shakspeare ! 

Under  this  organization,  the  Treasurer  was  in  reality  the 
most  important  officer.  Indeed  nothing  could  move  without 
his  co-operation,  and  "  it  is  natural,"  says  Sam,  "  that  the  early 
friend  of  Shakespeare — who  was  so  far  before  the  old  world 
in  reach  of  freedom  of  thought — should  have  been  the  earli- 
est promoter  of  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  in  the  New  World." 

Sam  disdains  to  call  himself  the  "child  of  Shakespeare,"  or 
anybody  else,  because  he  is  alone  the  child  of  the  elements, 
and  his  children  the  sons  of  Sam ;  yet  it  rather  pleases  the 
stalwart  gentleman  that  his  children  down  South  obtained  the 
"right  of  trial  by  jury"  first  through  an  early  friend  of 
Shakespeare,  and  perpetuated  it,  together  with  the  novelty 
of  "legislative  liberties"  to  all  the  other  colonies. 

The  system  of  representative  government  and  trial  by  jury 
was  thus  (1621)  established  in  the  new  hemisphere  as  an 
acknowledged  right.  The  colonists  ceasing  to  depend  as 
servants  on  a  commercial  company,  now  became  enfranchised 
citizens.  Henceforward  the  supreme  power  was  held  to  re- 
side in  the  hands  of  the  colonial  parliament  and  of  the  King, 
as  King  of  Virginia.  The  ordinance  was  the  basis  on  which 
Virginia  erected  the  superstructure  of  its  liberties.  Its  in- 
fluences were  wide  and  enduring,  and  can  be  traced  through 
all  following  years  of  the  history  of  the  colony.  It  consti- 
tuted the  plantation  in  its  infancy  a  nursery  of  freemen,  and 
succeeding  generations  learned  to  cherish  institutions  which 
were  as  old  as  the  first  period  of  the  prosperity  of  their 
fathers. 

The  privileges  which  were  now  conceded  could  never  be 
wrested  from  the  Virginians ;  and  as  new  colonies  arose  at 
the  South,  their  proprietaries  could  hope  to  win  emigrants  only 
by  bestowing  franchises  as  large  as  those  enjoyed  by  their 
elder  rival.  The  London  company  merits  the  fame  of  having 
acted  as  the  successful  friend  of  liberty  in  America.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  any  public  act  during  the  reign  of  King 
James  was  of  more  permanent  or  pervading  influence ;  and 
it  reflects  glory  on  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  and  the  patriot  party  of  England,  who,  unable  to 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  31 

establish  guarantees  of  a  liberal  administration  at  home,  were 
careful  to  connect  popular  freedom  so  intimately  with  the  life, 
prosperity  and  state  of  society  of  Virginia,  that  they  never 
could  be  separated. 

Thus  it  would  appear,  says  Sam,  that  my  dissolute  vaga- 
bonds of  Virginia  managed  to  thrive  in  one  way  and  another 
amazingly.  Not  only  did  they  contrive  to  obtain  first  from 
the  Crown  those  concessions  which  constitute  in  themselves 
the  magna  charta  of  American  freedom,  and  were  afterward 
emulated  and  imitated  in  the  constitutions  of  other  colonies, 
but  they  likewise  set  the  noble  example  of  religious  tolera- 
tion, and  while  their  bigoted  and  canting  brothers  of  Ply- 
mouth were  banishing  a  Roger  Williams  and  the  Anabap- 
tists, hanging  the  inoffensive  Quakers,  burning,  pressing,  and 
drawing  and  quartering  miserable  old  women,  under  the 
name  of  witches ;  these  profligate  colonists,  although  firm 
believers  in  the  union  of  church  and  state,  were  inviting  these 
very  Puritans-  to  come  among  them  and  settle  in  peace. 

The  condition  of  contending  parties  in  England  had  now 
given  to  Virginia  an  opportunity  of  legislation  independent 
of  European  control ;  and  the  voluntary  act  of  the  assembly 
restraining  religious  liberty,  adopted  from  hostility  to  polit- 
ical innovation,  rather  than  a  spirit  of  fanaticism,  or  respect 
to  instructions,  proves  conclusively  the  attachment  of  the 
representatives  of  Virginia  to  the  Episcopal  church  and  the 
cause  of  royalty.  Yet  there  had  been  Puritans  in  the  colony 
almost  from  the  beginning ;  even  the  Brownists  were  freely 
offered  a  serene  asylum.  "  Here,"  said  the  tolerant  Whita- 
ker,  "  neither  surplice  nor  subscription  is  spoken  of,"  and  sev- 
eral Puritan  clergy  emigrated  to  Virginia.  They  were  so 
contented  with  their  reception,  that  large  numbers  were  pre- 
paring to  follow,  and  were  restrained  only  by  the  forethought 
of  English  intolerance.  We  have  seen  that  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth  were  invited  to  remove  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Virginia ;  Puritan  merchants  planted  themselves  at  James 
river  without  fear,  and  emigrants  from  Massachusetts  had 
recently  established  themselves  in  the  colony.  The  honor  of 
Land  had  been  vindicated  by  a  judicial  sentence,  and  south 
of  the  Potomac  the  decrees  of  the  court  of  high  commission 
were  allowed  to  be  valid,  but  I  find  no  traces  of  persecution 
in  the  earliest  history  of  Virginia. 


82  HISTORICAL  AND 

This  is  the  self  same  historian  who  calls  the  early  settlers 
of  Virginia  by  such  terrible  hard  names  and  denounces  them 
as  under  the  ban  of  Providence,  because  of  their  un worthi- 
ness to  become  the  perpetuators  of  a  race  of  freemen. 
"  Strange,"  says  Sam,  "  that  a  people  accursed  of  God  should 
have  been  the  very  originators  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of 
freedom." 

Although  this  gracious  invitation  had,  by  a  special  mission 
sent  to  Boston  for  the  purpose,  been  extended  in  form  to  the 
ministers  of  Puritanism  to  come  and  settle  in  Virginia,  yet 
the  breaking  out  of  the  democratic  revolution  in  England 
alarmed  the  loyalty  of  the  colonists,  who  now  dreaded  the 
well-known  meddlesome,  prying,  mischief-making  proclivities 
of  the  malignant  Calvinists  which  had  procured  their  extir- 
pation from  the  old  world,  and  the  invitation  was  withdrawn 
and  such  non-conformists  with  Episcopacy  were  very  properly 
banished  from  the  colony. 

Sam  says  they  did  perfectly  right  in  this,  for  from  all  the 
facts  of  their  old  world  career,  the  Virginians  had  the  very 
best  reasons  for  expecting  nothing  but  incendiary  agitation 
at  such  a  crisis,  and  were  justly  indisposed  to  warm  a  viper 
in  their  own  bosoms. 

The  historians  of  Puritanism  are  compelled  to  speak  of 
this  justifiable  act  of  self-defense  only  in  such  modified  terms 
as  the  following :  "  Virginia  thus  displayed,  though  with 
comparatively  little  bitterness,  the  intolerance  which  for  cen- 
turies had  almost  universally  prevailed  throughout  the 
Christian  world." 


CHAPTER    V. 

Repeal  of  Charter  of  London  Company — The  Bacon  Rebellion— Death  of 
Bacon  and  character  of  same. 

BUT  the  great  event  of  Virginia  history  was  the  repeal  of 
the  Charter  of  the  London  Company  about  this  period,  (June, 
1624,)  and  the  colony  now  became  dependent  upon  herself — 
her  own  legislative  assembly  and  the  king  directly.  They 
purchased  a  confirmation  of  all  those  franchises  which  the 
liberal  prepossessions  of  the  London  Company  had  gradually 
conceded  by  the  struggle  for  the  surrender  of  the  monopoly 
of  tobacco  to  the  spendthrift  monarch  Charles  I.  "  The  first 
recognition  on  the  pa,rt  of  a  Stuart  of  a  representative  assem- 
bly in  America  "  was  of  that  called  by  Charles  to  consider  his 
offer  of  a  contract  for  the  whole  crop  of  tobacco. 

The  erring  monarch,  to  obtain  the  monopoly,  carelessly 
overlooked  the  dangers  of  this  elective  legislature.  Fortu- 
nate recklessness !  though  the  firmness  of  the  Virginia  Assem- 
bly defeated  him. 

Yet  this  auspicious  event  has  its  drawbacks,  which  proved 
sufficiently  formidable,  beyond  a  doubt.  This  first  attach- 
ment of  the  crown  was  rapidly  followed  by  other  interferences 
with,  and  encroachments  upon,  the  liberty  of  trade,  until  at 
last,  in  1641,  "England  claimed  that  monopoly  of  colonial 
commerce  which  was  ultimately  enforced  by  the  navigation 
act  of  Charles  II." 

Charles  I,  although  he  had  pertinaciously  expressed  his 
"  will  and  pleasure  to  have  the  sole  pre-emption  of  all  tobacco," 
had  as  yet  failed  of  accomplishing  his  object.  He,  however, 
by  a  cunning  indirection,  finally  succeeded  in  achieving  what 
amounted  to  the  same  end. 

33 


34:  HISTORICAL  AND 

No  vessel  laden  with  colonial  commodities  might  sail  from 
the  harbors  of  Virginia  for  any  ports  but  those  of  England, 
that  the  staple  of  those  commodities  might  be  made  in  the 
mother  country ;  and  all  trade  with  foreign  vessels,  except 
in  case  of  necessity,  was  forbidden.  This  ordinance,  which 
constituted  the  original  of  the  oppressive  "  Navigation  Act," 
was  the  cause  of  infinite  and  grievous  troubles  to  the  Vir- 
ginia colony. 

In  1676,  while  the  Indian  war  was  still  going  on,  com- 
plaints were  made  in  England  against  the  colonies  for  violat- 
ing the  acts  of  trade.  These  acts  imposed  oppressive  customs 
upon  certain  commodities,  if  imported  from  any  country 
beside  England,  or  if  transported  from  one  colony  to  another. 
The  acts  were  considered  by  the  colonies  as  unjust,  impolitic 
and  cruel.  For  several  years  they  paid  little  attention  to 
them,  and  his  majesty  at  length  required  that  agents  should 
be  sent  to  England  to  answer  in  behalf  of  the  colonies  for 
these  violations. 

By  the  acts  of  trade  none  of  the  colonies  suffered  more 
than  Virginia  and  Maryland,  their  operation  being  greatly 
to  lessen  the  profits  on  their  tobacco  trade,  from  which  a  great 
portion  of  their  wealth  was  derived.  In  addition  to  these 
sufferings,  the  colony  of  Virginia,  in  fiolation  of  chartered 
rights^  was  divided  and  conveyed  away  in  proprietary  grants. 
Not  only  uncultivated  woodlands  were  thus  conveyed,  but  also 
plantations  which  had  long  been  possessed,  and  improved 
according  to  law  and  charter. 

The  Virginians  complained,  petitioned,  remonstrated,  but 
without  effect.  Agents  were  sent  to  England  to  lay  their 
grievances  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  but  were  unsuccessful. 
At  length  their  oppression  became  insupportable,  and  the 
discontent  of  the  people  broke  out  into  open  insurrection. 

At  the  head  of  this  insurrection  was  placed  one  Nathaniel 
Bacon,  an  Englishman,  who,  soon  after  his  arrival  had  been 
appointed  a  member  of  the  council.  He  was  a  young  man 
of  commanding  person,  and  great  energy  and  enterprise. 

The  colony  at  this  time  was  engaged  in  war  with  the  Sus- 
quehanna  Indians.  Bacon  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Gov- 
ernor Berkley,  requesting  a  commission  to  go  against  the 
Indians.  This  commission  the  governor  refused,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  ordered  Bacon  to  dismiss  his  men,  and  on  penalty 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  35 

of  being  declared  a  rebel,  to  appear  before  himself  and  the 
council.  Exasperated  by  such  treatment,  Bacon,  without  dis- 
banding the  rest  of  his  men,  proceeded  in  a  sloop  with  forty 
of  them,  to  Jamestown.  Here  a  quarrel  ensued,  and  Berk- 
ley illegally  suspended  him  from  the  council.  Bacon  departed 
in  a  rage  with  his  sloop  and  men,  but  the  governor  pursued 
him,  and  adopted  such  measures  that  he  was  taken,  and 
brought  to  Jamestown. 

Finding  that  he  had  dismissed  Bacon  from  the  council 
illegally,  he  now  admitted  him  again,  and  treated  him  kindly. 
Soon  after,  Bacon  renewed  his  importunity  for  a  commission 
against  the  Indians.  Being  unable  to  effect  his  purpose,  he 
left  Jamestown  privately,  but  soon  again  appeared  with  six 
hundred  volunteers,  and  demanded  of  the  assembly  then  sit- 
ting, the  required  commission.  Being  overawed,  the  assem- 
bly advised  the  governor  to  grant  it.  But  soon  after  Bacon 
had  departed,  the  governor,  by  the  same  advice,  issued  a 
proclamation,  denouncing  him  as  a  rebel. 

Hearing  what  the  governor  had  done,  Bacon,  instead  of 
marching  against  the  Indians,  returned  to  Jamestown,  wreak- 
ing his  vengeance  upon  all  who  opposed  him.  Governor 
Berkley  fled  across  the  bay  to  Accomac,  but  the  spirit  of 
rebellion  had  gone  before  him.  He  therefore  found  himself 
unable  to  resist  Bacon,  who  now  ranged  the  country  at 
pleasure. 

At  length,  the  governor,  with  a  small  force  under  com- 
mand of  major  Robert  Beverly,  crossed  the  bay  to  oppose  the 
malcontents.  Civil  war  had  now  commenced.  Jamestown 
was  burnt  by  Bacon's  followers  ;  various  parts  of  the  colony 
were  pillaged,  and  the  wives  of  those  that  adhered  to  the 
governor's  party  were  carried  to  the  camp  of  the  insurgents. 

In  the  midst  of  these  commotions,  it  pleased  the  Supreme 
Ruler  to  withdraw  Bacon  by  a  natural  death.  The  malcon- 
tents, thus  left  to  recover  their  reason,  now  began  to  disperse. 
Two  of  Bacon's  generals  surrendered  and  were  pardoned,  and 
the  people  quietly  returned  to  their  homes. 

Upon  this  Berkley  resumed  the  government,  and  peace 
was  restored.  This  rebellion  formed  an  era  of  some  note  in 
the  history  of  Virginia,  and  its  unhappy  effects  were  felt  for 
thirty  years.  During  its  continuance,  husbandry  was  almost 
wholly  neglected,  and  such  havoc  was  made  among  all  kinds 


86  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  cattle  that  the  people  were  threatened  with  distressing 
famine.  Sir  William  Berkley,  after  having  been  forty  years 
governor  of  Virginia,  returned  to  England,  where  he  soon 
after  died. 

Three  years  afterward,  1679,  lord  Culpepper  was  sent  over 
as  governor,  with  certain  laws  prepared  in  conformity  to  the 
wishes  of  the  ministry  of  England,  and  designed  to  be  enacted 
by  the  assembly  in  Virginia.  One  of  those  laws  provided  for 
raising  a  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  government.  It 
made  the  duties  perpetual,  and*  placed  them  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  majesty. 

On  presenting  these  laws  to  the  Assembly,  Culpepper  in- 
formed them  that  in  case  they  were  passed,  he  had  instructions 
to  offer  pardon  to  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  Bacon's  re- 
bellion, but  if  not,  he  had  commissions  to  try  and  hang  them 
as  rebels,  and  a  regiment  of  soldiers  on  the  spot  to  support 
him.  The  Assembly,  thus  threatened,  passed  the  laws. 

Berkley  resumed  the  government  indeed,  but  it  seems  to 
have  been  a  bloody  peace  which  he  restored.  After  the  death 
of  Bacon,  the  mortified  vanity  of  the  irascible  old  cavalier  raged 
against  his  broken  and  disbanded  followers  and  abettors,  until 
twenty-two  had  been  hanged.  It  will  be  recollected,  however, 
that  he  was  a  royalist  governor,  appointed  by  the  king,  and  that 
his  victims  were  the  first  martyrs  to  freedom  on  the  American 
soil.  Even  the  king  disapproved  of  his  ferocity.  "The  old 
fool,"  said  the  kind-hearted  Charles  II,  "  has  taken  away  more 
lives  in  that  naked  country,  than  I  for  the  murder  of  my  father." 

"  He  would  have  hanged  half  the  country  had  we  let  him 
alone,"  said  the  colonial  member  from  Northampton  to  his 
colleague  from  Stafford. 

The  Nathaniel  Bacon  who  headed  this  unfortunate  (in  one 
sense  only — that  he  died  so  early,)  rebellion,  appears  to  have 
been  from  the  first  distrusted  by  Berkley.  A  native  of  Eng- 
land, born  during  the  contests  between  parliament  and  the 
king,  his  active  mind  had  been  awakened  to  a  consciousness 
of  popular  rights  and  popular  power,  he  had  not,  therefore," 
yielded  the  love  of  freedom  to  the  enthusiasm  of  royalty. 
"  Possessed  of  a  pleasant  address  and  powerful  elocution,"  he 
had  rapidly  risen  to  distinction  in  Virginia.  Quick  of  appre- 
hension, brave,  choleric,  yet  discreet  in  action,  the  young  and 
wealthy  planter  carried  to  the  banks  of  James  river,  the 


KEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  37 

liberal  principles  which  he  had  gathered  from  "  English 
experience;"  no  wonder,  then,  that  groaning  under  the 
grievous  imposition  of  the  "  navigation  acts,"  under  the 
arbitrary  distribution  of  their  lands  —  many  of  which  were 
old,  settled  and  improved  plantations  —  given  away  without 
any  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  settlers,  by  the  careless  prod- 
igality of  Charles  II,  to  such  men  as  Lord  Culpepper,  one  of 
the  most  covetous  in  England,  and  Henry,  Earl  of  Arling- 
ton, the  dissolute,  but  accomplished  father-in-law  to  the  king's 
son  by  lady  Castlemain,  who,  in  a  word,  became  jointly,  fac- 
tors of  the  King  as  joint  owners  of  Virginia — together  with 
the  immediate  pressure  of  a  fierce  war  with  the  Susquehan- 
nas  and  Seneca  Indians,  retaliations  for  which  the  royalist, 
Governor  Berkley,  refused  to  sanction  with  his  commission  to 
Bacon;  no  wonder  then,  we  say,  that  the  people  were  "  much 
infected"  with  the  principles  of  this  gallant  planter,  and  of 
the  Speaker  of  their  assembly,  Thomas  Godwin,  "notoriously 
a  friend  to  all  the  rebellion  and  treason  which  distracted  Vir- 
ginia ;"  no  wonder,  too,  that  the  gallant  Bacon  was  hailed  as 
the  "  darling  of  their  hopes,  the  appointed  defender  of  Vir- 
ginia," when,  having  been  elected  by  the  Assembly,  com- 
mander-in-chief,  he  took  charge  of  the  "  grand  rebellion  in 
Virginia !" 

The  rebels  under  his  command,  both  in  the  field  and  as  a 
leading  burgess  in  the  Assembly,  having  compelled  the  un- 
willing Berkley  to  concede  many  important  demands  for 
amelioration,  and  this  grateful  feature  of  the  legislation  of 
the  Assembly  having  been  ratified,  "  that  better  legislation  " 
was  completed,  according  to  the  new  style  of  computation,  on 
the  fourth  day  of  July,  1676,  just  one  hundred  years  to  a 
day,  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  adopting  the 
declaration  which  had  been  framed  by  a  statesman  of  Virginia, 
who,  like  Bacon,  was  "  popularly  inclined,"  began  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  man.  The  eighteenth  century  in  Virginia 
was  the  child  of  the  seventeenth  ;  and  Bacon's  rebellion,  with 
the  corresponding  scenes  in  Maryland,  Carolina,  and  New 
England,  was  the  early  harbinger  of  American  independence 
and  American  nationality. 

"  Pretty  good,"  says  Sam,  "  for  my  Southern  vagabonds  !" 
4 


PART  II. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

A  new  mystery — The  rise  of  Luther  and  Protestant  wars — Alvent  of  the 
mystery  of  Jesuitism. 

THOUGH  Sam  was  in  himself  a  mystery  of  the  New  "World, 
yet  was  he  not  the  only  clouded  Force  to  which  these  por- 
tentous times  gave  birth,  and  which  was  to  become  alike  his 
foe  and  the  terror  of  the  old  world  as  well  as  the  New. 

A  mysterious  Force!  yes,  a  terrible  mystery! — the  mys- 
tery of  spiritual  annihilation  ! — the  mystery  of  "  walking 
corpses  "°  of  humanity  demonized  to  the  greater  glory  of 
God! 

Momentous  years  were  those  (1537  and  1620)  which 
gave  hirth  to  the  order  of  Jesuits  and  to  Sam.  Memorable 
forever  will  they  be  in  the  record  of  human  struggle. 
Strange  that  out  of  the  mighty  travail  of  the  Protestant 
Revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  Europe  should  have 
sprung  these  two  births,  the  one  so  eventful  to  tho  death,  the 
other  to  the  life  of  hope  for  humanity  !  that  to  the  smiting 
of  the  powerful  wands  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  upon  the 
shadowy  turmoil  these  giant  foes  stepped  forth,  the  one  be- 
neath the  sun  of  day,  the  other  beneath  the  umbrage  of 
deep  night. 

But  as  we  have  looked  upon  the  birth  of  Sam,  seen  some- 
thing of  the  stormy  contrasts  and  opposing  traits  which  con- 
stituted the  majestic  elements  of  the  formative  period  of  his 
career ;  have,  in  a  word,  regarded  his  prodigious  infancy  at 

*  Perinde  ac  cadaver — The  last  words  of  the  founder  of  the  order  of  Jesuits. 

38 


.REVOLUTIONARY.  INCIDENTS.  39 

the  North  and  at  the  South,  in  the  early  Puritan  and  Cav- 
alier, we  may  now  turn  our  eyes  on  the  same  period  in  the 
coming  of  his  arch  and  most  deadly  enemy. 

The  sixteenth  century  was,  indeed,  a  period  of  ferment  in 
the  world's  history  !  Absolutism  had  attained  the  climax 
of  prerogative  throughout  the  Christian  world.  Europe  was 
divided  between  three  masters,  Henry  VIII,  of  England, 
Francis  I,  of  France,  and  Charles  V,  of  Spain,  who  held  it 
in  as  many  fields,  and  were  fighting  a  triangular  battle  for 
the  possession  of  the  whole,  with  the  aid  of  mercenary 
armies  ;  for  the  feudal  system,  trampled  in  the  dust,  was  no 
longer  rampant  to  the  setting  up  and  pulling  down  of  kings. 

The  gold  of  the  newly-discovered  Western  World  of  Sam 
had  now  become  a  puissant  arbitrator  in  these  kingly 
quarrels,  and  soon  the  old  time  chimera  of  the  "  balance  of 
power"  seemed  likely  to  come  home  to  roost  beneath  the 
roof-tree  of  Charles  V,  of  Spain. 

Henry  VIII,  who,  between  the  divorcing  and  beheading 
his  wives,  plundering  the  monasteries  and  keeping  in  check 
beneath  his  heel  the  dying  throes  of  the  "king-making" 
turbulence — the  "Warwick"  blood  of  his  nobility — found  suf- 
ficient employment  at  home,  after  the  issue  of  the  electoral 
Congress  of  Frankfort,  to  retire  upon  from  this  contest  and 
leave  France  and  Spain  to  fight  it  out.  Their  wars  con- 
tinued to  redden  the  fields  of  Europe  with  but  little  avail. 

Meanwhile,  as  a  compensation  for  these  evils,  the  human 
mind,  casting  off  the  prejudices  and  ignorance  of  the  middle 
ages,  marches  to  regeneration.  Italy  becomes  for  the  second 
time  the  center  from  whence  the  light  of  genius  and  learn- 
ing shines  forth  over  Europe.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Tiziano, 
Michael  Angelo,  are  the  sublime,  the  most  divine  interpreters 
of  art.  Pulci,  Ariosto  Poliziano,  give  a  new  and  creative 
impulse  to  literature,  and  are  the  worthy  descendants  of 
Dante.  Scholasticism,  with  its  subtle  argumentations,  vague 
reasonings,  and  illogical  deductions,  is  superseded  by  the 
practical  philosophy  of  Lorenzo  and  Machiavelli,  and  by  the 
irresistible  and  eloquent  logic  of  the  virtuous  but  unfortunate 
Savonarola.  Men  who,  for  the  last  three  centuries,  had  been 
satisfied  with  wrhat  had  been  taught  and  said  by  Aristotle 
and  his  followers — who,  as  the  last  and  incontrovertible 
argument,  had  been  accustomed  to  exclaim,  ipse  dixit,  now 


40  HISTORICAL  AND 

begin  to  think  for  themselves,  and  dare  to  doubt  and  discuss 
what  had  hitherto  been  considered  sacred  and  unassailable 
truths.  The  newly-awakened  human  intellect  eagerly  enters 
upon  the  new  path,  and  becomes  argumentative  and  inquir- 
ing, to  the  great  dismay  of  those  who  deprecated  diversity 
of  faith ;  and  the  Court  of  Home,  depending  on  the  blind 
obedience  of  the  credulous,  anathematizing  every  disputer  of 
the  Papal  infallibility,  views  with  especial  concern  this 
rising  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  has  to  tremble  for  its  usurped 
power. 

Luther,  the  dogged  monk,  with  the  yearnings  of  an  en- 
slaved and  trampled  world,  writhing  like  vexed  serpents  in 
his  brawny  breast,  having  been  treated  with  contumely  in 
his  first  humble  appeal  to  his  spiritual  father,  the  Pope,  for 
the  solution  of  the  conscientious  doubts  which  had  overtaken 
him  in  his  too  earnest  study  of  the  "  Holy  Book/7  threw 
himself  suddenly  upon  his  own  obdurate  arid  self-reliant  will, 
and  hurling  his  defiance  back  against  his  late  master,  in 
answer  to  the  Bull  of  Excommunication  with  which  he  had 
been  favored,  stood  cap-a-pie,  in  the  breach  which  he  had 
already  made,  to  battle  to  the  death  for  his  doctrines. 

The  art  of  printing  came  opportunely  to  his  aid,  and 
wielding  its  magic,  marvelous  to  tell,  this  burly  champion 
proved  meet  to  encounter,  visor  up  and  single  hand,  the  ser- 
ried chivalry  of  Europe  and  the  wrong. 

The  German  princes,  partly  persuaded  of  the  truth  of 
Luthers'  doctrines,  partly  desirous  to  escape  the  exacting 
tyranny  of  Rome  which  drained  their  subjects'  pockets,  sup- 
ported the  Reformer.  They  protested  at  Spires,  and  at 
Smalkaden  made  preparations  to  maintain  their  protest  by 
arms.  In  a  few  years,  without  armed  violence,  but  simply 
by  the  persuasive  force  of  truth,  the  greater  part  of  Germany 
became  converted  to  the  Reformed  faith.  The  honest  in- 
dignation of  Zuinglius  in  Switzerland,  and,  conspiring  with 
the  diffusion  of  the  truth,  the  unbridled  passions  of  Henry 
VIII  in  England,  alike  rescued  a  considerable  portion  of  their 
respective  countries  from  the  Romish  yoke.  In  France  and 
in  Navarre  the  new  doctrines  found  many  warm  adherents  ; 
while  in  Italy  itself,  at  Brescia,  Pisa,  Florence,  nay  even  at 
Rome  and  at  Faenza,  there  were  many  who  more  or  less 
openly  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  Thus, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  41 

in  a  short  time,  the  Roman  religion,  founded  in  ancient 
and  deep-rooted  prejudices,  supported  by  the  two  greatest 
powers  in  the  world,  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor,  defended  by 
all  the  bishops  and  priests  who  lived  luxuriously  by  it,  was 
overturned  throughout  a  great  part  of  Europe. 

Now  was  the  time,  when  gloom  had  settled  upon  the  cupola, 
of  St.  Peter's,  when  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican  were  tamed, 
and  the  debauched  and  hoary  despotism  of  Rome  tottered  on 
a  throne  of  straw — now  was  the  time  which  was  to  add  terror 
to  terror,  crime  to  crime,  which,  in  a  new  birth  of  darkness, 
was  to  people  earth  with  incarnate  ghosts  more  drear  and 
powerful  of  evil  than  the  creatures  of  a  supernal  hell. 

The  period  had  come  when,  in  the  dulcet  language  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  it  was  declared  "  that,  as  from  time 
to  time  new  heresies  have  inflicted  the  Church  of  God,  so 
He  has  raised  up  holy  men  to  combat  them ;  and  as  he  had 
raised  up  St.  Dominic  against  the  Albigenses  and  Vaudois, 
so  He  sent  Loyola  and  hi«  disciples  against  the  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists."0 

It  is  of  this  new  mystery,  according  to  such  authority, 
"raised  up  by  God,"  to  resist  those  elements  out  of  which 
the  birth  of  Sam  came,  that  we  would  now  proceed  to  nar- 
rate. 

0  Helyot,  Histoire  des  Ordres  Monastiques,  Religieux  et  Militaires,  tome 
vii,  p.  452.     When  we  have  modern  authors  we  quote  from  Sacchinus  Or- 
landinus,  etc.,  we  shall  quote  them,  as  books  are  easily  to  be  had. 
4* 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Life  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  founder  of  the  Order — Spiritual  exercises — The 
Weeks — The  Contemplations — Loyola  a  Pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Places — His 
persecutions — His  first  disciples,  Xavier,  Le  Fevre — Lainez  and  Rodri- 
gues  vow  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land  and  convert  Infidels — Vow  of  perpetual 
chastity  and  poverty — The  vow  of  unquestioning  obedience — Refusal  of 
the  Holy  See  to  recognize  the  Order — Cunning  vow  of  obedience  to  the 
Pope — Obtains  his  recognition — Bull  of  recognition. 

INIGO,  or,  as  commonly  called,  Ignatius  Loyola,  the  young- 
est of  eleven  children,  of  a  noble  and  ancient  family,  was 
born  in  the  year  1491,  in  his  father's  castle  of  Loyola  at 
Guipuscoa  in  Spain.  He  was  of  middle  stature  and  rather 
dark  complexion ;  had  deep-set,  piercing  eyes,  and  a  hand- 
some and  noble  countenance.  While  yet  young  he  had  be- 
come bald,  which  gave  him  an  expression  of  dignity,  that 
was  not  impaired  by  a  lameness  arising  from  a  severe  wound. 
His  father,  a  worldly  man,  as  his  biographer  says,  instead  of 
sending  him  to  some  holy  community  to  be  instructed  in 
religion  and  piety,  placed  him  as  a  page  at  the  court  of  Fer- 
dinand V.  But  Ignatius,  naturally  of  a  bold  and  aspiring 
disposition,  soon  found  that  no  glory  was  to  be  reaped  in  the 
antechambers  of  the  Catholic  King ;  and  delighting  in  mili- 
tary exercises,  he  became  a  soldier — and  a  brave  one  he 
proved.  His  historians,  to  make  his  subsequent  conversion 
appear  more  wonderful  and  miraculous,  have  represented  him 
as  a  perfect  monster  of  iniquity ;  but,  in  truth,  he  was  merely 
a  gay  soldier,  fond  of  pleasure,  no  doubt,  yet  not  more  de- 
bauched than  the  generality  of  his  brother  officers.  His 
profligacy,  whatever  it  was,  did  not  prevent  him  from  being 
a  man  of  strict  honor,  never  backward  in  time  of  danger. 

At  the  defense  of  Pampeluna  against  the  French,  in  1521, 
Ignatius,  while  bravely  performing  his  duty  on  the  walls, 
was  struck  down  by  a  ball,  which  disabled  both  his  legs. 
42 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  43 

With  him  fell  the  courage  of  the  besieged.  They  yielded , 
and  the  victors  entering  the  town,  found  the  wounded  officer, 
and  kindly  sent  him  to  his  father's  castle,  which  was  not  far 
distant.  Here  he  endured  all  the  agonies  which  generally 
attend  gunshot  wounds,  and  an  inflammatory  fever  which 
supervened,  brought  him  to  the  verge  of  the  grave — when, 
"O!  miracle!"  exclaims  his  biographer,  "it  being  the  eve 
of  the  feast  of  the  glorious  saints  Peter  and  Paul,  the  prince 
of  the  apostles  appeared  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  touched  him, 
whereby  he  was,  if  not  immediately  restored  to  health,  at 
least  put  in  a  fair  way  of  recovery."  Now  the  fact  is,  that 
the  patient  uttered  not  a  syllable  regarding  his  vision  at  the 
time;  nevertheless,  we  are  gravely  assured  that  the  miracle 
was  not  the  less  a  fact.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  Igna- 
tius undoubtedly  recovered,  though  slowly. 

During  his  long  convalescence,  he  sought  to  beguile  the 
tedious  hours  of  irksome  inactivity  passed  in  the  sick  cham- 
ber by  reading  all  the  books  of  knight-errantry  which  could 
be  procured.  The  chivalrous  exploits  of  the  Rolands  and 
Amadises  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  imagination, 
which,  rendered  morbidly  sensitive  by  a  long  illness,  may 
well  be  supposed  to  have  been  by  no  means  improved  by  such 
a  course  of  study.  When  these  books  were  exhausted,  some 
pious  friend  brought  him  the  Lives  of  the  Saints.  This 
work,  however,  not  suiting  his  taste,  Ignatius  at  first  flung 
it  aside  in  disgust,  but  afterward,  from  sheer  lack  of  better 
amusement,  he  began  to  read  it.  It  presented  to  him  a  new 
phase  of  the  romantic  and  marvelous,  in  which  he  so  much 
delighted.  He  soon  became  deeply  interested,  and  read  it 
over  and  over  again.  The  strange  adventures  of  these 
saints — the  praise,  the  adoration,  the  glorious  renown  which 
they  acquired,  so  fired  his  mind,  that  he  almost  forgot  his 
favorite  Paladins.  His  ardent  ambition  saw  here  a  new 
career  opened  up  to  it.  He  longed  to  become  a  saint. 

Yet  the  military  life  had  not  lost  its  attractions  for  him. 
It  did  not  require  the  painful  preparations  necessary  to  earn 
a  saintly  reputation,  and  was,  moreover,  more  in  accordance 
with  his  education  and  tastes.  He  long  hesitated  which  course 
to  adopt — whether  he  should  win  the  laurels  of  a  hero,  or 
earn  the  crown  of  a  saint.  Had  he  perfectly  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  his  wound,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  he 


44  HlSTOEICAL   AND 

would  have  chosen  the  laurels.  But  this  was  not  to  be. 
Although  he  was  restored  to  health,  his  leg  remained  hope- 
lessly deformed — he  was  a  cripple  for  life. 

It  appeared  that  his  restorer,  St.  Peter,  although  upon  the 
whole  a  tolerably  good,  physician,  was  by  no  means  an  expert 
surgeon.  The  broken  bone  of  his  leg  had  not  been  properly 
set ;  part  of  it  protruded  through  the  skin  below  the  knee, 
and  the  limb  was  short.  Sorely,  but  vainly,  did  Ignatius 
strive  to  remove  these  impediments  to  a  military  career, 
which  his  unskillful  though  saintly  surgeon  had  permitted  to 
remain.  He  had  the  projecting  piece  of  bone  sawn  off,  and 
his  shortened  leg  painfully  extended  by  mechanical  appliances, 
in  the  hope  of  restoring  it  to  its  original  fine  proportions. 
The  attempt  failed ;  so  he  found  himself,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
ty-two, with  a  shrunken  limb,  with  little  or  no  renown,  and 
by  his  incurable  lameness,  rendered  but  slightly  capable  of 
acquiring  military  glory.  Nothing  then  remained  for  him 
but  to  become  a  saint. 

Saintship  being  thus,  as  it  were,  forced  upon  him,  he  at 
once  set  about  the  task  of  achieving  it,  with  all  that  ardor 
which  he  brought  to  bear  upon  every  pursuit.  He  became 
daily  absorbed  in  the  most  profound  meditations,  and  made  a 
full  confession  of  all  his  past  sins,  which  was  so  often  inter- 
rupted by  his  passionate  outbursts  of  penitent  weeping, 
that  it  lasted  three  days.0  To  stimulate  his  devotion,  he 
lacerated  his  flesh  with  the  scourge,  and  abjuring  his  past 
life,  he  hung  up  his  sword  beside  the  altar  in  the  church  of 
the  convent  of  Montserrat.  Meeting  a  beggar  on  the  public 
road,  he  exchanged  clothes  with  him,  and  thus  habited  in 
the  loathsome  rags  of  the  mendicant,  he  retired  to  a  cave 
near  Menreze,  where  he  nearly  starved  himself. 

When  he  next  reappeared  in  public,  he  found  his  hopes 
almost  realized.  His  fame  had  spread  far  and  wide ;  the 
people  flocked  from  all  quarters  to  see  him — visited  his  cave 
with  feelings  of  reverend  curiosity  —  and  nothing  was 
thought  of  but  the  holy  man  and  his  severe  penances.  But 
now  the  Evil  Spirit  began  to  assail  him.  The  tender  con- 
science of  Ignatius  began  to  torment  him  with  the  fear  that 
all  this  public  notice  had  made  him  proud ;  that,  while  he  had 

°Helyot,  Hist,  des  Ord.  Mon.,  Bel.  et  Mil.,  tome  vii,  page  456. 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  45 

almost  begun  to  consider  himsell  a  saint,  lie  was,  in  reality,  by 
reason  of  that  belief  itself,  the  most  heinous  of  sinners.  So 
imbittered  did  his  life  become  in  consequence  of  these 
thoughts,  that  he  went  well  nigh  distracted. 

But  God  supported  him ;  and  the  Tempter,  baffled  in  his 
attempts,  fled.  Ignatius  fasted  for  seven  days,  neither  eat- 
ing nor  drinking ;  went  again  to  the  confessional,  and,  re- 
ceiving absolution,  was  not  only  delivered  from  the  stings  of 
his  own  conscience,  but  obtained  the  gift  of  healing  the  troubled 
consciences  of  others?*  This  miraculous  gift  Ignatius  is  be- 
lieved to  have  transmitted  to  his  successors,  and  it  is  in  a 
great  measure  to  this  belief,  that  the  enormous  influence  of 
the  Company  of  Jesus  is  to  be  attributed,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter. 

Now  that  Ignatius  could  endure  his  saintship,  without  be- 
ing overwhelmed  by  a  feeling  of  sinfulness,  he  pursued  his 
course  with  renewed  alacrity.  Yet  it  was  in  itself  by  no 
means  an  attractive  one.  In  order  to  be  a  perfect  Cath- 
olic saint,  a  man  must  become  a  sort  of  misanthrope — cast 
aside  wholesome  and  cleanly  apparel,  go  about  clothed  in 
filthy  rags,  wearing  haircloth  next  his  skin,  and,  renouncing 
the  world  and  its  inhabitants,  must  retire  to  some  noisome 
den,  there  to  live  in  solitary  meditation,  with  wild  roots  and 
water  for  food,  daily  applying  the  scourge  to  expiate  his 
sins — of  which,  according  to  one  of  the  disheartening  doc- 
trines of  the  Catholic  Church,  even  the  just  commit  at  least 
seven  a  day.  The  saint  must  enter  into  open  rebellion  against 
the  laws  and  instincts  of  human  nature,  and  consequently, 
against  the  will  of  the  Creator.  And  although  it  can  not  be 
denied  that  some  of  the  founders  of  monastic  orders  conscien- 
tiously believed  that  their  rules  were  conducive  to  holiness 
and  eternal  beatitude,  nevertheless,  we  may  with  justice, 
charge  them  with  overlooking  the  fact  that,  as  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  laws  of  nature  invariably  brings  along  with  it  its 
own  punishment — a  certain  evidence  of  the  Divine  displea- 
sure— true  holiness  can  not  consist  in  disregarding  and  op- 
posing them. 

Ignatius,  however,  continued  his  life  of  penance,  made 
to  the  Virgin  Mary  a  solemn  vow  of  perpetual  chastity, 

°Helyot,  Hist,  des  Ord.  Mon.,  Rel.  et  Mil.,  tome  vii,  page  456. 


46  HISTORICAL  AND 

begged  for  bread,  often  scourged  himself,  and  spent  many 
hours  a  day  in  prayer  and  meditation.  What  he  meditated 
upon,  God  only  knows.  After  a  few  months  of  this  ascetic 
life,  he  published  a  little  book,  which  much  increased  his 
fame  for  sanctity.  It  is  a  small  octavo  volume,  and  bears 
the  title  of  Spiritual  Exercises*  As  this  work,  the  only  one 
he  has  left,  is  the  acknowledged  standard  of  the  Jesuits'  re- 
ligious practice,  and  is  by  them  extolled  to  the  skies,  we 
must  say  some  few  words  about  it. 

First  of  all  we  shall  relate  the  supernatural  origin  assigned 
to  it  by  the  disciples  and  panegyrists  of  its  author. 

He  (Ignatius)  had  already  done  much  for  God's  sake,  and 
God  now  rendered  it  back  to  him  with  usury.  A  courtier,  a 
man  of  pleasure,  and  a  soldier,  he  had  neither  the  time  nor 
the  will  to  gather  knowledge  from  books.  But  the  knowl- 
edge of  man,  the  most  difficult  of  all,  was  divinely  revealed 
to  him.  The  master  who  was  to  form  so  many  masters,  was 
himself  formed  by  divine  illumination.  He  composed  the 
Spiritual  Exercises,  a  work  which  had  a  most  important  place 
in  his  life,  and  is  powerfully  reflected  in  the  history  of  his 
disciples. 

This  quotation  is  from  Cretineau  Joly,  (vol.  i,  p.  18,)  an 
author  who  professes  not  to  belong  to  the  society  but  whose 
book  was  published  under  the  patronage  of  the  Jesuits,  who, 
he  says,  opened  to  him  all  the.  depositories  of  unpublished 
letters  and  manuscripts  in  their  principal  convent,  the  Gesu 
at  Eome ;  he  wrote  also  a  virulent  pamphlet  against  the 
great  Pontiff  Clement  XIV,  the  suppressor  of  the  Jesuits. 
Hence  we  consider  ourselves  fairly  entitled  to  rank  the  few 
quotations  we  shall  make  from  him  as  among  those  emanat- 
ing from  the  writers  that  belong  to  the  Order ;  and  we  are 
confident  that  no  Jesuit  would  ever  think  of  repudiating 
Cretineau  Joly.  This  author  proceeds  to  state  that  in  the 
manuscript  in  which  Father  Jouvency  narrates  in  elegant 

0  By  the  term  Spiritual  Exercises,  Catholics  understand  that  course  of 
solitary  prayer  and  religious  meditation,  generally  extended  over  many 
days,  which  candidates  for  holy  orders  have  to  perform  in  the  seclusion  of 
a  convent,  previous  to  being  consecrated.  Again,  when  a  priest  incurs 
the  displeasure  of  his  Superior,  he  is  sent  as  a  sort  of  prisoner  to  some 
convent,  there  to  perform  certain  prescribed  spiritual  exercises,  which,  in 
this  case,  may  last  from  one  to  three  weeks. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  47 

Latin  those  strange  events,  it  is  said — this  light  shed  by  the 
divine  will  upon  Ignatius  showed  him  openly  and  without  vail 
the  mystery  of  the  adorable  T'rinty  and  other  arcana  of  re- 
ligion. He  remained  for  eight  days  as  if  deprived  of  life. 
What  he  witnessed  during  this  ecstatic  trance,  as  well  as  in 
many  other  visions  which  he  had  during  life,  no  one  knows. 
He  had  indeed  committed  these  celestial  visions  to  paper,  but 
shortly  before  his  death  he  burned  the  book  containing  them, 
lest  it  should  fall  into  unworthy  hands.  A  few  pages,  how- 
ever, escaped  his  precautions,  and  from  them  one  can  easily 
conjecture  that  he  must  have  been  from  day  to  clay  loaded 
with  still  greater  favors.  Chiefly  was  he  sweetly  ravished 
in  contemplating  the  dignity  of  Christ  the  Lord,  and  his  in- 
conceivable charity  toward  the  human  race.  As  the  mind  of 
Ignatius  was  filled  with  military  ideas,  he  figured  to  himself 
Christ  as  a  general  fighting  for  the  divine  glory,  and  calling 
on  all  men  to  gather  under  his  standard.  Hence  sprang  his 
desire  to  form  an  army  of  which  Jesus  should  be  the  chief 
and  commander,  the  standard  inscribed  —  "Ad  major  em  Dei 
Gloriam" 

With  deference  to  M.  Joly,  we  think  that  a  more  mundane 
origin  may  be  found  for  the  "  Exercises/'  in  the  feverish 
dreams  of  a  heated  imagination.  Be  this  as  it  may,  however, 
we  shall  proceed  to  lay  before  our  readers  a  short  analysis 
of  it,  extracted  from  Cardinal  Wiseman's  preface  to  the  last 
edition.  He  says :  "  This  is  a  practical,  not  a  theoretical 
work.  It  is  not  a  treatise  on  sin  or  on  virtue  ;  it  is  not  a 
method  of  Christian  perfection,  but  it  contains  the  entire 
practice  of  perfection,  by  making  us  at  once  conquer  sin  and 
acquire  the  highest  virtue.  The  person  who ,  goes  through 
the  Exercises  is  not  instructed,  but  is  made  to  act;  and  this 
took  will  not  be  intelligible  apart  from  this  view." 

The  reader  will  observe  that  it  is  divided  into  four  weeks; 
and  each  of  these  has  a  specific  object,  to  advance  the  exer- 
citant  an  additional  step  toward  perfect  virtue.  If  the  work 
of  each  week  be  thoroughly  done,  this  is  actually  accomplished* 

"The  first  week  has  for  its  aim  the  cleansing  of  the  con- 
science from  past  sin,  and  of  the  affections  from  their  future 
dangers.  For  this  purpose,  the  soul  is  made  to  convince 

0  The  italics  here  are  our  own. 


48  HISTORICAL  AND 

itself  deeply  of  the  true  end  of  its  being — to  serve  God  and 
be  saved,  and  of  the  real  inutility  of  all  else.  This  considera- 
tion has  been  justly  called  by  St.  Ignatius,  the  principle  or 
foundation  of  the  entire  system."  The  Cardinal  assures  us 
that  the  certain  result  of  this  first  week's  exercises  is,  that 
"sin  is  abandoned,  hated,  loathed." 

"  In  the  second,  the  life  of  Christ  is  made  our  model;  by 
a  series  of  contemplations  of  it,  we  become  familiar  with  its 
virtues,  enamored  of  his  perfections ;  we  learn,  by  copying 
him,  to  be  obedient  to  God  and  man ;  meek,  humble,  affec- 
tionate ;  zealous,  charitable,  and  forgiving;  men  of  only  one 
wish  and  one  thought — that  of  doing  ever  God's  holy  will 
alone  ;  discreet,  devout,  observant  of  every  law,  scrupulous 
performers  of  every  duty.  Every  meditation  on  these  sub- 
jects shows  us  how  to  do  all  this ;  in  fact,  makes  us  really 
do  it.0  The  third  week  brings  us  to  this.  Having  desired 
and  tried  to  be  like  Christ  in  action,  we  are  brought  to  wish 
and  to  endeavor  to  be  like  unto  him  in  suffering.  Eor  this 
purpose  his  sacred  passion  becomes  the  engrossing  subject  of 
the  Exercises.  But  she  (the  soul)  must  be  convinced  and 
feel,  that  if  she  suffers,  she  also  shall  be  glorified  with  him  ; 
and  hence  the  fourth  and  concluding  week  raises  the  soul  to 
the  consideration  of  those  glories  which  crowned  the  humilia- 
tions and  suffering  of  our  Lord."  Then  after  a  highly  fig- 
urative eulogium  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  Exercises  "  duly 
performed,"  the  reverend  prelate  proceeds  to  show  that  the 
one  "essential  element  of  a  spiritual  retreat,"  (for  so  the 
Exercises  reduced  to  action  are  properly  called,)  "  is  direction" 
In  the  Catholic  church  no  one  is  ever  allowed  to  trust  him- 
self in  spiritual  matters.  The  sovereign  pontiff  is  obliged  to 
submit  himself  to  the  direction  of  another  in  whatever  con- 
cerns his  own  soul.  The  life  of  a  good  retreat  is  a  good 
director  of  it.  This  director  modifies,  (according  to  certain 
written  rules,)  the  order  of  the  Exercises,  to  adapt  them  to 
the  peculiar  character  of  the  exercitant ;  regulates  the  time 
employed  in  them,  watches  their  effects,  and  like  a  physician 
prescribing  for  a  patient,  varies  the  treatment  according  to 
the  symptoms  exhibited,  encouraging  those  which  seem 
favorable,  and  suppressing  those  which  are  detrimental  to  the 

°  Stephens. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  49 

desired  result.  "  Let  no  one,"  says  the  Cardinal,  "  think  of 
undertaking  these  holy  Exercises  without  the  guidance  of  a 
prudent  and  experienced  director." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  weeks  of  the  Exercises  do  not 
mean  necessarily  a  period  of  seven  days.  The  original  period 
of  their  performance  was  certainly  a  month;  but  even  so, 
more  or  less  time  was  allotted  to  each  week's  work  according 
to  the  discretion  of  the  director.  Now,  except  in  very  par- 
ticular circumstances,  the  entire  period  is  abridged  to  ten 
days  ;  sometimes  it  is  still  further  reduced, 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  above  extracts  that  the  Car- 
dinal, ignoring  the  fact  that  the  sinner's  conversion  must  be 
effected  entirely  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  seems 
to  regard  the  unregenerate  human  soul  merely  as  a  piece  of 
raw  material,  which  the  "  director  "  may,  as  it  were,  manu- 
facture into  a  saint,  simply  by  subjecting  it  to  the  process 
prescribed  in  the  Exercises. 

In  regard  to  the  merits  of  the  book,  I  cannot  agree  either 
with  Wiseman  or  a  very  brilliant  Protestant  writer,0  who, 
speaking  of  the  approbation  bestowed  on  it  by  Pope  Paul  III, 
says — "  Yet  on  this  subject  the  chair  of  Knox,  if  now  filled 
by  himself,  would  not  be  very  widely  at  variance  with  the 
throne  of  St.  Peter."  The  book  certainly  does  not  deserve 
this  high  eulogium.  However,  it  cannot  be  denied  that, 
amidst  many  recommendations  of  many  absurd  and  super- 
stitious practices  proper  to  the  Popish  religion,  the  little 
volume  does  contain  some  very  good  maxims  and  precepts. 
For  instance,  here  are  two  passages  to  which  I  am  sure  that 
not  even  the  most  anti-Catholic  Protestant  could  reasonably 
object.  At  page  16  it  is  said : 

"  Man  was  created  for  this  end,  that  he  might  praise  and 
reverence  the  Lord  his  God,  and,  serving  him,  at  length  be 
saved,  f  But  the  other  things  which  are  placed  on  the  earth 
were  created  for  man's  sake,  that  they  might  assist  him  in 
pursuing  the  end  of  creation,  whence  it  follows,  that  they 
are  to  be  used  or  abstained  from  in  proportion  as  they  benefit 
or  hinder  him  in  pursuing  that  end.  Wherefore  we  ought 
to  be  indifferent  toward  all  created  things  (in  so  far  as  they 
are  subject  to  the  liberty  of  our  will,  and  not  prohibited),  so 

ff  Stephens.        fSee  the  Shorter  Catechism,  Qu.  1. 


60  HISTORICAL  AND 

that  (to  the  best  of  our  power)  we  seek  not  health  more  than 
sickness,  nor  prefer  riches  to  poverty,  honor  to  contempt,  a 
long  life  to  a  short  one.  But  it  is  fitting,  out  of  all,  to  choose 
and  desire  those  things  only  which  lead  to  the  end."  And 
again,  at  page  33,  "the  third  (article  for  meditation)  is,  to 
consider  myself;  who  or  what  kind  I  am,  adding  comparisons 
which  may  bring  me  to  a  greater  contempt  of  myself ;  as  if 
I  reflect  how  little  I  am  when  compared  with  all  men,  then 
what  the  whole  multitude  of  mortals  is,  as  compared  with 
the  angels  and  all  the  blessed :  after  these  things  I  must 
consider  what,  in  fact,  all  the  creation  is  in  comparison  with 
God,  the  Creator,  himself;  what  now  can  I,  one  mere  human 
being,  be  !  Lastly,  let  me  look  at  the  corruption  of  my  whole 
self,  the  wickedness  of  my  soul,  and  the  pollution  of  my  body, 
and  account  myself  to  be  a  kind  of  ulcer  or  boil,  from  which 
so  great  and  foul  a  flood  of  sins,  so  great  a  pestilence  of  vices 
has  flown  down. 

"  The  fourth  is  to  consider  what  God  is,  whom  I  have  thus 
offended,  collecting  the  perfections  which  are  God's  peculiar 
attributes  and  comparing  them  with  my  opposite  vices  and 
defects  ;  comparing,  that  is  to  say,  his  supreme  power,  wis- 
dom, goodness,  and  justice,  with  my  extreme  weakness, 
ignorance,  wickedness,  and  iniquity." 

But  then  the  above  Exercises  are  followed  by  certain  Ad- 
ditions, which  are  recommended  as  conducing  to  their  better 
performance.  Some  of  these  are  very  strange  ;  for  instance, 
the  fourth  is,  "  to  set  about  the  Contemplation  itself,  now  kneel- 
ing on  the  ground,  now  lying  on  my  face  or  on  my  back,  now 
sitting  or  standing,  and  composing  myself,  in  the  way  in 
which  I  may  hope  the  more  easily  to  attain  what  I  desire. 
In  which  matter,  these  two  things  must  be  attended  to ;  the 
first  that  if,  on  my  knees  or  in  any  other  posture,  I  obtain 
what  I  wish,  I  seek  nothing  further.  The  second,  that  on 
the  point  in  which  I  shall  have  attained  the  devotion  I  seek, 
I  ought  to  rest,  without  being  anxious  about  pressing  on  until 
I  shall  have  satisfied  myself.  The  sixth,  that  I  avoid  those 
thoughts  which  bring  joy,  as  that  of  the  glorious  resurrection 
of  Christ ;  since  any  such  thought  hinders  the  tears  and  grief 
for  my  sins,  which  must  then  be  sought  by  calling  in  mind 
rather  death  or  judgment.  The  seventh,  that,  for  the  same 
reason,  I  deprive  myself  of  all  the  brightness  of  the  light, 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  51 

shutting  the  doors  and  windows  so  long  as  I  remain  there  fin 
my  chamber),  except  while  I  have  to  read,  or  take  my  food." 
At  page  55  we  find,  in  the  second  Week :  "  The  Fifth  Con- 
templation is  the  application  of  the  senses  to  those  (contem- 
plations) mentioned  above.  After  the  preparatory  prayer, 
with  the  three  already  mentioned  preludes,  it  is  eminently 
useful  to  exercise  the  five  imaginary  senses  concerning  the 
first  and  second  contemplations  in  the  following  way,  accord- 
ing as  the  subject  shall  bear : 

'  The  first  point  will  be,  to  see  in  imagination  all  the  per- 
sons, and,  noting  the  circumstances  which  shall  occur  con- 
cerning them,  to  draw  out  what  may  be  profitable  to 
ourselves. 

*  The  second,  by  hearing  as  it  were,  what  they  are  saying, 
or  what  it  may  be  natural  for  them  to  say,  to  turn  all  to  our 
own  advantage. 

'  The  third,  to  perceive,  by  a  certain  inward  taste  and 
smell,  how  great  is  the  sweetness  and  delightfulness  of  the 
soul  imbued  with  divine  gifts  and  virtues,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  person  we  are  considering,  adapting  to  our- 
selves those  things  which  may  bring  us  some  fruit. 

1  The  fourth,  by  an  inward  touch,  to  handle  and  kiss  the 
garments,  places,  footsteps,  and  other  things  connected  with 
such  persons ;  whence  we  may  derive  a  greater  increase  of 
devotion,  or  of  any  spiritual  good. 

*  This  contemplation  will  be  terminated,  like  the  former 
ones,  by  adding  in  like  manner,  Pater  noster.' 7: 

At  page  52,  among  other  things  "  to  be  noted,"  is: 
"  The  second,  that  the  first  exercise  concerning  the  Incarna- 
tion of  Christ  is  performed  at  midnight ;  the  next  at  dawn  ;  the 
third  about  the  hour  of  mass ;  the  f  jurth  about  the  time  of 
vespers  ;  the  fifth  a  little  before  supper,  and  on  each  of  them 
will  be  spent  the  space  of  one  hour ;  which  same  thing  has 
to  be  observed  henceforward,  everywhere." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  deadly  war  of  the  Jesuits  against  Protestantism  continued  in  the  New 
World — Cant  of  Bancroft  the  Historian — Illustrations— Martyrdom? — 
Facts  and  Motives  of  Jesuit  Missions — League  of  the  Iroquois — Intrigues 
of  the  Jesuits — First  Intercolonial  War — Predominance  of  Jesuit  Insti 
gation. 

BUT  the  Jesuit  Wolf  was  not  the  only  arch  instigator  of 
the  Border  Wars  and  their  attendant  massacres  and  burnings 
belonging  to  his  Order.  These  indefatigable  and  bloody  foes 
of  Protestantism  in  all  its  shades  and  forms — not  content  with 
the  slaughter  of  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses — the  St.  Bar- 
tholomew days  —  the  reeking  battlefields,  the  plundered 
provinces  and  sacked  cities,  with  which  their  ferocious  coun- 
cils and  insidious  intrigues  had  devastated  the  old  world — no 
sooner  learn  that  some  jfeeble  remnants  of  their  purposed 
victims  have  fled  for  refuge  to  the  savage  wilderness  of  the 
New  World  than,  in  pursuance  of  that  deadly  vow  of  exter- 
mination which  was  the  basis  of  Jesuit  organization,  they 
follow  them  hither,  and  at  once  renew  the  fatal  strife. 

With  the  crafty  humility  which  has  ever  characterized 
their  initial  proceedings,  they  came  at  first  the  single,  lowly 
enthusiast  of  the  cross,  and  then  in  little  squads  of  twos  and 
threes,  with  scrip  and  staff — the  mock  heralds  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace — the  mild  and  patient  bearers  of  "  glad  tidings  " 
to  the  benighted  red-man.  But  it  is  impossible  for  the 
feeble  pen  of  the  historian  of  "  Sam  "  to  do  justice  to  the 
immaculate  virtues  of  this  heroic  and  self-denying  Order. 
Hear,  rather,  the  words  of  one  whose  lips  have  evidently  been 
touched  with  "  Holy  fire,"  and  flame  forth  in  words  meet  to 
celebrate  such  transfigurations  of  the  Divine  in  the  human, 
as  these  Jesuit  missionaries  appear  to  him — even  the  Nestor 
of  Yankee  historians,  George  Bancroft !  He  alone  may 
speak  fittingly  of  such  a  theme,  with  that  poetical  effulgence 
of  diction  which,  in  its  resonant  raptures,  has  fairly  cowed  tho 
52 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  53 

sober  seeming  of  the  grave  historic  muse  with  the  stately- 
turn  turn  of  Homeric  measures  wherever  he  touches  this  topic. 
Behold,  then,  the  Jesuits  Brebeuf  and  Daniel,  soon  to  be 
followed  by  the  gentler  Lallemand,  and  many  others  of  their 
order,  bowing  meekly  in  obedience  to  their  vows,  and  joining 
a  party  of  barefoot  Hurons,  who  were  returning  from  Quebec 
to  their  country.  The  journey,  by  way  of  the  Ottawa  and 
the  rivers  that  interlock  with  it,  was  one  of  more  than  three 
hundred  leagues,  through  a  region  horrible  with  forests. 
All  day  long,  the  missionaries  must  wade,  or  handle  the  oar. 
At  night,  there  is  no  food  for  them  but  a  scanty  measure  of 
Indian  corn  mixed  with  water ;  their  couch  is  the  earth  or 
the  rocks.  At  five  and  thirty  waterfalls,  the  canoe  is  to  be 
carried  on  the  shoulders  for  leagues  through  thickest  woods, 
or  over  roughest  regions ;  fifty  times  it  was  dragged  by  hand 
through  shallows  and  rapids,  over  sharpest  stones ;  and  thus, 
swimming,  wading,  paddling,  or  bearing  the  canoe  across  the 
portages,  with  garments  torn,  with  feet  mangled,  yet  with  the 
breviary  safely  hung  round  the  neck,  and  vows,  as  they  ad- 
vanced, to  meet  death  twenty  times  over,  if  it  were  possible, 
for  the  honor  of  St.  Joseph,  the  consecrated  envoys  made  their 
way,  by  rivers,  lakes  and  forests,  from  Quebec  to  the  heart  of  the 
Huron  wilderness.  There,  to  the  north-west  of  Lake  Toronto, 
near  the  shore  of  Lake  Iroquois,  which  is  but  a  bay  of  Lake 
Huron,  they  raised  the  first  humble  house  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  among  the  Hurons — the  cradle,  it  was  said,  of  his 
church  who  dwelt  at  Bethlehem  in  a  cottage.  (1634.)  The 
little  chapel,  built  by  the  aid  of  the  ax,  and  consecrated 
to  St.  Joseph,  where,  in  the  gaze  of  thronging  crowds,  ves- 
pers and  matins  began  to  be  chanted,  and  the  sacred  bread 
was  consecrated  by  solemn  mass,  amazed  the  hereditary 
guardians  of  the  council-fires  of  the  Huron  tribes.  Beautiful 
testimony  to  the  equality  of  the  human  race !  the  sacred 
wafer,  emblem  of  the  divinity  in  man,  all  that  the  church 
offered  to  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  European  world,  was 
shared  with  the  humblest  of  the  savage  neophytes.  The 
hunter,  as  he  returned  from  his  wide  roamings,  was  taught 
to  hope  for  eternal  rest ;  the  braves,  as  they  came  from  war, 
were  warned  of  the  wrath  which  kindles  against  sinners  a 
never-dying  fire,  fiercer  far  than  the  fires  of  the  Mohawks  ; 
the  idlers  of  the  Indian  villages  were  told  the  exciting  tale 
5* 


64:  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  the  Savior's  death  for  their  redemption.  Two  new  Christian 
villages,  St.  •  Louis  and  St.  Ignatius,  bloomed  among  the 
Huron  forests.  The  dormant  sentiment  of  pious  veneration 
was  awakened  in  many  breasts,  and  there  came  to  be  even 
earnest  and  ascetic  devotees  uttering  prayers  and  vows  in  the 
Huron  tongue — while  tawny  skeptics  inquired,  if  there  were 
indeed,  in  the  center  of  the  earth,  eternal  flames  for  the 
unbelieving. 

The  missionaries  themselves  possessed  the  weaknesses  and 
the  virtues  of  their  Order.  For  fifteen  years  enduring  the 
infinite  labors  and  perils  of  the  Huron  mission,  and  exhibiting, 
as  it  was  said,  "  an  absolute  pattern  of  every  religious  virtue," 
Jean  de  Brebeuf,  respecting  even  the  nod  of  his  distant 
Superiors,  bowed  his  mind  and  his  judgment  to  obedience. 
Beside  the  assiduous  fatigues  of  his  office,  each  day,  and 
sometimes  twice  in  the  day,  he  applied  to  himself  the  lash ; 
beneath  a  bristling  hair  shirt  he  wore  an  iron  girdle,  armed 
on  all  sides  with  projecting  points  ;  his  fasts  were  frequent; 
almost  always  his  pious  vigils  continued  deep  into  the  night. 
In  vain  did  Asmodeus  assume  for  him  the  forms  of  earthly 
beauty  ;  his  eye  rested  benignantly  on  visions  of  divine 
things.  Once,  imparadised  in  a  trance,  he  beheld  the  Mother 
of  Him  whose  cross  he  bore,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  vir- 
gins, in  the  beatitudes  of  heaven.  (1640.)  Once,  as  he 
himself  has  recorded,  while  engaged  in  penance,  he  saw 
Christ  unfold  his  arms  to  embrace  him  with  the  utmost  love, 
promising  oblivion  of  his  sins.  Once,  late  at  night,  while 
praying  in  the  silence,  he  had  a  vision  of  an  infinite  number 
of  crosses,  and,  with  mighty  heart,  he  strove,  again  and 
again,  to  grasp  them  all.  Often  he  saw  the  shapes  of  foul 
fiends,  now  appearing  as  madmen,  now  as  raging  beasts  ;  and 
often  he  beheld  the  image  of  death,  a  bloodless  form,  by  the 
side  of  the  stake,  struggling  with  bonds,  and,  at  last,  falling, 
as  a  harmless  specter,  at  his  feet.  Having  vowed  to  seek  out 
suffering  for  the  greater  glory  of  God,  he  renewed  that  vow 
every  day,  at  the  moment  of  tasting  the  sacred  wafer ;  and, 
as  his  cupidity  for  martyrdom  grew  into  a  passion,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  What  shall  I  render  to  thee,  Jesus,  my  Lord,  for 
all  thy  benefits  ?  I  will  accept  thy  cup,  and  invoke  thy 
name ;"  and,  in  sight  of  the  Eternal  Father  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  of  the  most  holy  Mother  of  Christ,  and  St.  Joseph, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  55 

before  angels,  apostles,  and  martyrs,  before  St.  Ignatius  and 
Francis  Xavier,  he  made  a  vow  never  to  decline  the  opportu- 
nity of  martyrdom,  and  never  to  receive  the  death-blow  but 
with  joy.  (1638.) 

The  life  of  a  missionary  on  Lake  Huron  was  simple  and 
uniform.  The  earliest  hours,  from  four  to  eight  were  ab- 
sorbed in  private  prayer  ;  the  day  was  given  to  schools,  visits, 
instruction  in  the  catechism,  and  a  service  for  proselytes. 
Sometimes,  after  the  manner  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Brebeuf 
would  walk  through  the  village  and  its  environs,  ringing  a 
little  bell,  and  inviting  the  Huron  braves  and  counselors  to  a 
conference.  There,  under  the  shady  forest,  the  most  solemn 
mysteries  of  the  Catholic  faith  were  subjected  to  discussion. 
It  was  by  such  means  that  the  sentiment  of  piety  was  un- 
folded in  the  breast  of  the  great  warrior  Ahasistari.  Nature 
had  planted  in  his  mind  the  seeds  of  religious  faith  :  "  Be- 
fore you  came  to  this  country,"  he  would  say,  "  when  I  have 
incurred  the  greatest  perils,  and  have  alone  escaped,  I  have 
said  to  myself,  *  Some  powerful  spirit  has  the  guardianship 
of  my  days  ;' "  and  he  professed  his  belief  in  Jesus,  as  the 
good  genius  and  protector,  whom  he  had  before  unconsciously 
adored.  After  trials  of  his  sincerity,  he  was  baptized  ;  and, 
enlisting  a  troop  of  converts,  savages  like  himself,  "Let  us 
strive,"  he  exclaimed,  "to  make  the  whole  world  embrace 
the  faith  in  Jesus." 

But  this  is  too  good  to  be  all.  Our  quondam  historian 
who,  as  may  be  seen  from  his  account  of  Jean  de  Brebeuf, 
has  studied  the  ecstaticism  of  Jesuit  narrative  with  an  ear- 
nestness strongly  savoring  of  a  conviction  in  faith,  gives  us 
another  precious  morceau  from  the  same  reliable  source, 
which  exhibits  his  huge  relish  for  such  spicy  viands. 

The  Jesuits  are  determined  to  push  a  Mission  into  the 
country  of  the  unwilling  Mohawk. 

"Each  sedentary  Mission  was  a  special  point  of  attraction 
to  the  invader,  and  each,  therefore,  was  liable  to  the  horrors 
of  an  Indian  massacre.  Such  was  the  fate  of  the  village  of 
St.  Joseph.  On  the  morning  of  July  4,  1648,  when  the 
braves  were  absent  on  the  chase,  and  none  but  women,  child- 
ren, and  old  men,  remained  at  home,  Father  Anthony  Dan- 
iel hears  the  cry  of  danger  and  confusion.  He  flies  to  the 
scene  to  behold  his  converts,  in  the  apathy  of  terror,  falling 


66  HISTORICAL  AND 

victims  to  the  fury  of  Mohawks.  No  age,  however  tender, 
excites  mercy;  no  feebleness  of  sex  wins  compassion.  A 
group  of  women  and  children  fly  to  him  to  escape  the  toma- 
hawk— as  if  his  lips,  uttering  messages  of  love,  could  pro- 
nounce a  spell  that  would  curb  the  madness  of  destruction. 
Those  who  had  formerly  scoft'ed  his  mission,  implore  the  ben- 
efit of  baptism.  He  bids  them  ask  forgiveness  of  God,  and, 
dipping  his  handkerchief  in  water,  baptizes  the  crowd  of 
suppliants  by  aspersion.  Just  then,  the  palisades  are  forced. 
Should  he  fly  ?  He  first  ran  to  the  wigwams  to  baptize  the 
sick  ;  he  next  pronounced  a  general  absolution  on  all  who 
sought  it,  and  then  prepared  to  resign  his  life  as  a  sacrifice 
to  his  vows.  (1648.)  The  wigwams  are  set  on  fire;  the 
Mohawks  approach  the  chapel,  and  the  consecrated  envoy 
serenely  advances  to  meet  them.  Astonishment  seized  the 
barbarians.  At  length,  drawing  near,  they  discharge  at  him 
a  flight  of  arrows.  All  gashed  and  rent  by  wounds,  he  still 
continued  to  speak  with  surprising  energy — now  inspiring 
fear  of  the  divine  anger,  and  again,  in  gentle  tones,  yet  of 
more  piercing  power  than  the  whoops  of  the  savages,  breath- 
ing the  affectionate  messages  of  mercy  and  grace.  Such 
were  his  actions  till  he  received  a  death-blow  from  a  halbert. 
The  victim  to  the  heroism  of  charity  died,  the  name  of  Jesus 
on  his  lips ;  the  wilderness  gave  him  a  grave  ;  the  Huron 
nation  were  his  mourners.  By  his  religious  associates  it  was 
believed  that  he  appeared  twice  after  his  death,  youthfully 
radiant  in  the  sweetest  form  of  celestial  glory ;  that,  as  the 
reward  for  his  torments,  a  crowd  of  souls,  redeemed  from 
purgatory,  were  his  honoring  escort  into  heaven." 

One  more  glimpse  of  these  poetic  pictures,  and  we  shall 
turn  to  common  sense.  The  prevalence  of  peace  now  favored 
the  advance  of  the  French,  or  rather  Jesuit,  dominion. 

"  For  the  succeeding  years,  the  illustrious  triumvirate, 
Alloiiez,  Dablon,  and  Marquette,  were  employed  in  confirming 
the  influence  of  France  in  the  vast  regions  that  extend  from 
Green  Bay  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior — mingling  happi- 
ness with  suffering,  and  winning  enduring  glory  by  their  fear- 
less perseverance.  For  to  what  inclemencies,  from  nature  and 
from  man,  was  each  missionary  among  the  barbarians  exposed  ! 
He  defies  the  severity  of  climate,  wading  through  water  or 
through  snows,  without  the  comfort  of  fire  ;  having  no  bread 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  57 

but  pounded  maize,  and  often  no  food  but  the  unwholesome  moss 
from  the  rocks  ;  laboring  incessantly ;  exposed  to  live,  as  it 
were,  without  nourishment,  to  sleep  without  a  resting-place, 
to  travel  far,  and  always  incurring  perils — to  carry  his  life 
in  his  hand,  or  rather  daily,  and  oftener  than  every  day,  to 
hold  it  up  as  a  target,  expecting  captivity,  death  from  the 
tomahawk,  tortures,  fire.  And  yet  the  simplicity  and  the 
freedom  of  life  in  the  wilderness  had  their  charms.  The 
heart  of  the  missionary  would  swell  with  delight,  as,  under 
a  serene  sky,  and  with  a  mild  temperature,  and  breathing  a 
pure  air,  he  moved  over  waters  as  transparent  as  the  most 
limpid  fountain.  Every  encampment  offered  his  attendants 
the  pleasures  of  the  chase.  Like  a  patriarch,  he  dwelt  be- 
neath a  tent ;  and  of  the  land  through  which  he  walked,  he 
was  its  master,  in  the  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth  of  it, 
profiting  by  its  productions,  without  the  embarrassment  of 
ownership.  How  often  was  the  pillow  of  stones  like  that 
where  Jacob  felt  the  presence  of  God !  How  often  did  the 
ancient  oak,  of  which  the  centuries  were  untold,  seem  like 
the  tree  of  Mamre,  beneath  which  Abraham  broke  bread 
with  angels  !  Each  day  gave  the  pilgrim  a  new  site  for  his 
dwelling,  which  the  industry  of  a  few  moments  would  erect, 
and  for  which  nature  provided  a  floor  of  green,  inlaid  with 
flowers.  On  every  side  clustered  beauties,  which  art  had  not 
spoiled,  and  could  not  imitate." 

Now,  apart  from  all  this  sky-rocketing  of  words,  the  plain 
historical  truth  concerning  these  so  much  vaunted  missionary 
movements  of  the  Jesuits,  is  clearly  about  this.  Their 
sleuth-hound  vengeance  crossed  the  sea  upon  the  track  of 
that  Protestantism  which  they  had,  as  an  Order,  sworn  to 
exterminate.  Next  to  this  vow,  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
Order,  "to  the  greater  glory  of" — Loyola,  was  the  next 
most  vital  consideration,  and,  in  America,  they  only  pursued 
the  same  policy  in  reference  to  this  particular  end  which  had 
characterized  their  operations  in  India,  China,  Japan,  Para- 
guay, California,  and  elsewhere  ;  their  object  being,  clearly, 
in  the  formation  of  Missions,  to  create  so  many  fiefs  of  the 
Order,  the  revenues  of  which  would  enure  to  the  swelling 
its  treasury. 

In  North  America,  beside  the  tithes,  which  being  paid  in 


58  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

the  rich  furs  of  the  country,  were  by  no  means  inconsider- 
able, the  Missions  established  would  answer  the  double 
purpose  of  revenue  and  revenge ;  since  uniformly  cul- 
tivating in  the  hearts  of  their  converts  the  most  implac- 
able enmity  againt  Protestantism,  the  Order  were  enabled  at 
any  time,  to  harass  and  devastate  the  hated  settlements. 
And,  again,  having  as  an  Order  been  several  times  banished 
from  France,  as  well  as  from  every  other  government  of 
Europe  as  enemies  to  internal  peace,  they  felt  it  necessary 
to  purchase  toleration  by  the  splendor  of  their  discoveries  in 
pushing  exploration  so  far  ahead  of  settlement.  Nor  did  all 
these  combined,  constitute  the  yet  most  important  considera- 
tion to  the  ambitious  Jesuit. 

They  early  perceived,  with  that  sure  intelligence  of  fore- 
sight which  has  uniformly  marked  their  operations,  the 
future  glory  and  grandeur  of  this  New  World,  and  they 
determined  to  establish  for  themselves  here,  a  Theocratic 
empire,  which  would  be  to  the  Order — amidst  the  convulsions 
which  their  intrigues  continued  to  cause  in  Europe — as  a 
House  of  Refuge  to  which  they  might,  as  a  last  resort,  fly  for 
safety,  and  hold  as  a  point  d  'appui,  from  which  they  might 
renew  the  contest. 

See  how  clearly  they  have  apprehended  the  importance  of 
the  New  Hemisphere  in  this  light.  Paraguay,, indeed  the 
whole  of  South  America,  and  Mexico  on  the  south,  Cali- 
fornia on  the  west,  New  France,  or  Canada  on  the  north,  all 
occupied  by  the  proposed  Theocracy — thus  hemming  in  the 
beleaguered  Protestants  on  three  sides.  What  South  Amer- 
ica, Mexico  and  California  have  been — and  the  two  first  yet 
remaining  so — virtual  Theocracies — that  is,  governments  in 
which  the  priesthood  standing  as  the  representatives  of  God, 
are  alone  accountable  to  Him  for  both  the  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral of  their  subject — or  in  other  words,  constitute  the 
supreme  governing  power  in  the  State — no  one  will  at  this 
day  pretend  to  deny.  That  New  France  or  Canada,  was  also 
ruled  into  a  strict  Theocracy  by  the  tjpsuits,  is  clearly  sus- 
ceptible of  proof,  throughout  the  entire  cotemporary  history 
of  that  period.  La  Hontan,  an  intelligent  traveler,  natu- 
ralist and  cosmopolite — twenty  years  after  New  France  had 
been  established  a  bishopric  through  the  enterprise  of  the 


EEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  59 

Jesuits — complains  grievously  of  this  priestly  despotism,  and 
after  the  remark,  "  that  at  Montreal  it  was  a  perpetual  Lent," 
continues  : 

We  have  here  a  misanthropical  bigot  of  a  cure*,  under 
whose  spiritual  despotism,  play  and  visiting  the  ladies  are 
reckoned  among  the  mortal  sins.  If  you  have  the  misfor- 
tune to  be  on  his  black  list,  he  launches  at  you  publicly,  from 
the  pulpit,  a  bloody  censure.  As  Messieurs,  the  priests  of  St. 
Sulpice,  are  our  temporal  lords,  they  take  the  greater  liberty 
to  tyrannize  over  us.  To  keep  well  with  them,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  communicate  once  a  month.  These  Arguses  have 
their  eyes  constantly  on  the  conduct  of  the  women  and  the 
'girls.  Fathers  and  husbands  may  sleep  in  all  assurance, 
unless  they  have  some  suspicions  as  to  these  vigilant  sentinels 
themselves.  Of  all  the  vexation  of  these  disturbers,  I  found 
none  so  intolerable  as  their  war  upon  books.  None  are  to  be 
found  here  but  books  of  devotion.  All  others  are  prohibited 
and  condemned  to  the  flames.  Our  author  winds  up  with  a 
ludicrous  account  how  his  Petronius,  left  by  accident  on  his 
table,  was  mutilated  by  a  devout  priest,  who  to^k  it  upon 
himself  to  tear  out  all  the  best  leaves,  i  nder  pretense  that 
they  were  scandalous.  "  No  one  dare  to  be  absent  from 
great  masses  and  sermons  without  special  excuse.  These  are 
the  times,  however,  at  which  the  women  take  a  little  liberty, 
being  sure  that  their  husbands  and  mothers  are  at  church." 

Such  is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  cotemporary 
writers — amply  sustained  as  it  is  by  the  invariable  usage 
and  determination  of  Catholic — but  more  especially  Jesuit 
institutions.  But  were  such  cotemporary  evidence  wanting 
at  a  time  when  the  learning  of  the  world  was  principally  in 
the  keeping  of  the  catholic  priesthood,  there  yet  remains 
the  broad  and  well-established  historical  fact,  that  the  inter- 
colonial wars  between  the  English  and  other  Protestant  col- 
onies on  the  north,  and  the  Indians  and  Canadian  French, 
were  instigated  personally  by  these  saintly  Jesuit  missionaries 
themselves,  and  that  the  murderous  forays  of  the  Indians 
upon  these  settlements,  were  even  led  by  these  meek  mis- 
sionaries of  poace.  •  Indeed,  all  that  saved  these  northern 
colonies  from  absolute  extermination,  was  the  success  of  that 
sagacious  policy  of  the  early  Dutch  governors  of  New 
Amsterdam,  in  securing  the  friendship  and  allegiance  of  the 


60  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

powerful  and  warlike  Iroquois  or  Five  Nations,  established  in 
the  north  of  New  York.  This  alliance  also,  politically  courted 
and  nourished  by  the  New  England  colonies,  was  for  a  long 
period  successfully  maintained;  opposing  this  formidable 
Indian  confederacy  as  a  barrier  between  their  weak  but  grow- 
ing settlements  and  the  exterminating  hate  of  the  Jesuits. 
It  was  during  the  desperate  efforts  of  these  priests  to  gain  a 
foothold  among  the  Iroquois  for  their  Missions,  with  a  view 
to  breaking  up  this — for  them— unlucky  league,  by  their 
intrigues,  that  all  those  bloody  scenes  occurred,  which  we  have 
seen  so  elaborately  celebrated  in  the  Elegiac  prose  of  the 
sympathizing  historian,  Bancroft.  A  choice  subject  for  the 
lugubrious  monodies  of  an  American  historian  surely  !  Had 
the  Jesuits,  whose  fate  is  thus  deplored,  succeeded  earlier — 
as  they  did  finally  to  some  extent — in  their  scheme  of  dis- 
rupturing  this  alliance,  and  turned  loose  upon  the  weak  set- 
tlements of  the  Protestant  colonies,  the  fierce  warrior  hordes 
of  the  Five  Nations,  in  addition  to  those  formidable  tribes 
which  already  yielded  to  their  supremacy,  no  doubt  our  ten- 
der-hearted historian  would  have  had  ample  inspiration  for 
the  change  of  his  Elegiacs  into  Idyls,  or  found  full  employ- 
ment in  sounding  the  Te  Deum  to  Loyola !  Terribly  as  the 
colonies  suffered  as  it  was — with  the  Iroquois  sometimes  allies 
but  most  frequently  neutral — there  can  be  no  question  of  the 
entire  subjugation,  if  not  annihilation  of  the  Protestant 
colonies  of  the  north,  had  such  an  event  as  this  disruption 
taken  place.  Hildreth  says : 

Whatever  the  success  of  the  French  missionaries  among 
the  more  northern  and  western  tribes,  they  encountered  in 
the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  firm  and  formidable  opponents. 
That  celebrated  confederacy,  beside  subject  tribes,  included 
five  allied  communities :  the  Senecas,  the  Cayugas,  the  Onon- 
dagas,  the  Oneidas,  and  the  Mohawks ;  which  last,  as  being 
nearest  to  their  settlements,  often  gave,  among  the  English, 
a  name  to  the  whole.  Each  of  these  five  nations  was  divided 
into  three  clans,  distinguished  as  the  Bear,  the  Tortoise,  and 
the  Wolf.  Their  castles,  rude  forts,  places  of  protection  for 
the  women,  children,  and  old  men,  surrounded  by  fields  of 
corn,  beans,  and  squashes,  the  head-quarters  of  the  several 
tribes,  were  situated  on  those  waters  of  central  New  York, 
of  which  the  names  serve  as  memorials,  and  now  almost  the 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  61 

only  ones,  of  their  ancient  possessors.  Some  slender  rem- 
nants of  this  once-powerful  confederacy  still  linger,  however, 
on  small  reservations  of  their  ancient  territory.  It  was  in 
courage,  ferocity,  and  warlike  enterprise,  far  more  than  in 
social  institutions  or  the  arts  of  peace,  that  the  Iroquois  sur- 
passed the  tribes  of  Algonquin  descent  on  their  eastern, 
southern,  and  western  borders.  It  was  not  against  those 
tribes  as  Algonquin,  that  the  Five  Nations  carried  on  war, 
for  their  hostility  was  directed  with  even  greater  fury  against 
the  Hurons  and  Wyandots,  who  dwelt  along  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  north  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  who  spoke  dialects  of 
the  same  language  with  themselves.  The  early  alliance  of 
French  with  those  tribes,  had  rendered  the  French  colonists 
objects  of  implacable  hate  to  the  Five  Nations. 

In  vain,  during  a  short  interval  of  peace,  strenuous 
efforts  were  made  to  establish  a  spiritual  influence  over  these 
fierce  warriors.  Father  Jogues,  whose  captivity  had  made 
him  acquainted  with  the  chiefs,  having  returned  again  to 
Canada,  was  sent  among  them  as  embassador  and  mission- 
ary— a  dangerous  service,  in  which  he  met  the  death  he  had 
formerly  escaped. 

Supplied  with  fire-arms  by  the  Dutch,  and  rendered  thus 
more  formidable  than  ever,  the  Iroquois  renewed  a  war  by 
which  the  missionaries  and  their  converts  were  equally  en- 
dangered. Daniel,  the  venerable  father  of  the  Huron  mis- 
sion ,  perished  in  the  midst  of  his  flock,  surprised  and  massacred 
by  a  Mohawk  war-party.  Brebeuf  and  Lallemand,  taken  pris- 
oners, were  burned  at  the  stake ;  Gardier  perished  by  the 
hatchets  of  the  Iroquois ;  Chabanel  was  lost  in  the  woods. 
The  Huron  missions,  by  these  renewed  onslaughts,  were 
completely  broken  up.  The  Hurons,  Wyandots,  and  Ottawas, 
greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  were  driven  from  their  country, 
which  became  a  hunting-ground  for  the  Iroquois.  Subse- 
quently the  Hurons  and  Ottawas  established  themselves  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Mackinaw.  Mohawk  war-parties  harass- 
ed the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  unhappy  colonists 
lived  in  daily  dread  of  massacre.  Quebec  itself  was  not  safe. 
This  emergency  caused  a  message  to  ask  aid  of  New  Eng- 
land, as  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  or,  at  least,  a  free 
passage  for  war-parties  of  the  Eastern  tribes  under  French 
influence  in  their  inarch  against  the  Mohawks — a  message 
6 


62  HISTORICAL  AND 

borne  by  John  G-odefroy,  one  of  the  council  of  New  France, 
and  Dreuillettes,  former  explorer  of  the  passage  from  Que- 
bec to  the  eastern  coast,  described  in  his  commission  as 
'preacher  of  the  Gospel  to  savage  nations.7  But  the  Com- 
missioners for  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  listened 
with  but  a  cold  ear  to  the  story  of  the  martyrdom  of  the 
French  missionaries  and  the  sufferings  of  their  Indian  con- 
verts. No  aid  could  be  obtained  in  that  quarter ;  but,  after 
two  or  three  years  of  perpet-ual  alarm,  the  Iroquois  consented 
at  last  to  a  peace. 

From  the  earliest  foothold  obtained  by  the  Jesuits  among 
the  French  colonies  on  the  north,  they  had  been  known  as  the 
instigators  and  fermenters  of  jealousies  between  their  converts 
and  the  Puritan  settlements  of  New  England  and  New  York. 
With  the  exception  of  their  unvarying  system  of  '  Reductions' 
— as  they  are  best  termed  in  all  countries,  and  meaning 
nothing  more  than  absolute  slavery,  spiritually  and  financially, 
by  which  the  rich  proceeds  of  the  free-trade  were,  in  this  case, 
to  be  monopolized  into  the  treasury  of  the  Order — there  were 
no  purposes  in  which  these  missionaries  proved  themselves  so 
indefatigably  consistent,  as  this  of  mortal  enmity  to  the  Prot- 
estants wherever  they  appeared.  Not  only  was  this  per- 
petual cause  of  irritation  felt  in  the  savage  carnage  of  the 
earlier  partisan  or  guerrilla  struggles  of  the  weak  colonies 
with  the  more  northern  Indian  tribes,  and  recognized  as  the 
incessant  source  of  mortal  peril  beside  their  hard-earned  fire- 
sides— although  their  own  agency  had  been  denied  by  the 
Jesuits  —  yet  when  the  first  intercolonial  war  (known  as 
King  William's  war,)  broke  out,  the  colonists  were  at  no  loss 
to  know  who  had  been,  and  would  continue  to  be,  their  most 
arch  and  deadly  foes.  They  not  only  knew  these  crafty  mis- 
sionaries to  be  such  enemies,  but  struck  at  them  now  as  such, 
in  spite  of  the  pretended  sanctities  of  their  calling  and  garb ; 
and  that  too,  with  the  merciless  and  exterminating  violence 
of  a  spirit  of  retribution  fired  by  the  memory  of  the  thousand 
sneaking  and  incendiary  wrongs  which  had  been  accumulating 
to  their  account,  through- so  many  years.  Hildreth's  straight- 
forward account  of  the  progress  of  this  war,  best  illustrates 
the  development  so  far. 

So  soon  as  the  declaration  of  war  between  France  and 
England  became  known  in  America,  the  Baron  Castin  easily 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  63 

excited  the  Eastern  Indians  to  renew  their  depredations.  In 
these  hostilities  the  tribes  of  New  Hampshire  were  induced 
also  to  join.  Those  tribes  had  neither  forgotten  nor  forgiven 
the  treachery  of  Waldron,  at  the  conclusion  of  Philip's  war, 
thirteen  years  before.  Two  Indian  women,  apparently  friend- 
ly, sought  and  obtained  a  night's  lodging  at  Waldron's  gar- 
rison or  fortified  house  at  Dover.  They  rose  at  midnight, 
opened  the  doors,  and  admitted  a  party  lying  in  wait  for  the 
purpose.  Waldron,  an  old  man  of  eighty,  after  a  stout 
resistance,  was  made  prisoner.  Placed  by  his  captors  in  an 
elbow-chair  at  the  head  of  a  table  in  the  hall,  he  was  taunted 
with  the  exclamation,  'Judge  Indians  now!'  after  which  he 
was  put  to  death  with  tortures.  Twenty  others  were  killed. 
Twenty-nine  were  carried  off  as  prisoners.  The  village  was 
burned.  The  fort  at  Pemaquid,  the  extreme  eastern  frontier, 
was  soon  after  attacked  by  a  party  of  Penobscots,  resident  in 
the  neighborhood,  instigated  by  the  Jesuit  Thury,  who  lived 
among  them  as  a  missionary.  The  garrison,  obliged  to  sur- 
render, was  dismissed  by  the  Indians,  but  the  fort,  which 
Andros  had  built,  was  destroyed.  An  attack  upon  Casco  was 
repulsed  by  Churth,  the  famous  partisan  of  Philip's  war,  sent 
from  Massachusetts  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  But 
all  the  settlements  further  east  were  ravaged  and  broken  up. 
In  hopes  to  engage  the  formidable  Mohawks  as  auxiliaries 
against  these  eastern  tribes,  commissioners  from  Boston  pro- 
ceeded to  Albany,  then  held  by  the  members  of  the  New 
York  council  opposed  to  Leisler.  In  a  conference  had  there 
with  some  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations,  they  expressed  their 
determination  to  continue  the  war  against  Canada,  but  they 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  lift  the  hatchet  against  their 
Indian  brethren  of  the  East. 

Eeduced  to  extreme  distress  by  the  late  successful  inroads 
of  the  Iroquois,  Canada  had  just  received  relief  by  the  arrival 
from  France  of  Count  Frontenac,  re-commissioned  as  governor, 
and  bringing  with  him  such  of  the  Indian  prisoners  sent  to 
France  as  had  survived  the  galleys,  troops,  supplies,  and  a 
scheme  for  the  conquest  and  occupation  of  New  York.  As  a  part 
of  this  scheme,  the  Chevalier  de  la  Coffiniere,  who  had  accompa- 
nied Frontenac  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  proceeded  to 
cruise  off  the  coast  of  New  England,  making  many  prizes, 
and  designing  to  attack  New  York  by  sea,  while  Frontenac 


64  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

assailed  it  on  the  land  side.  Frontenac,  though  sixty-eight 
years  of  age,  had  all  the  buoyancy  and  vigor  of  youth.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  determination,  and  his 
former  administration  of  the  colony  made  him  aware  of  the 
measures  which  the  exigency  demanded.  The  Iroquois  had 
already  retired  from  Montreal,  and  preparations  were  imme- 
diately made  for  relieving  Fort  Frontenac.  These  prepara- 
tions, however,  were  too  late,  for  the  garrison  had  already  set 
fire  to  the  fort,  and  retired  down  the  river.  Means  were  still 
found,  however,  to  keep  up  the  communication  with  Macki- 
naw. Not  able  to  prosecute  this  scheme  of  conquest,  Fron- 
tenac presently  detached  three  war-parties,  to  visit  on  the 
English  frontier  those  same  miseries  which  Canada  had  so 
recently  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Five  Nations. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  twenty  years,  a  number  of  con- 
verted Mohawks,  induced  to  retire  from  among  their  heathen 
brethren,  had  established  themselves  at  the  rapids  of  St. 
Louis,  in  a  village  known  also  as  Cagnawaga,  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  St  Lawrence,  nearly  opposite  Montreal.  It  was  chiefly 
these  converted  Mohawks,  well  acquainted  with  the  settle- 
ments about  Albany,  who  composed,  with  a  number  of 
Frenchmen,  the  first  of  Frontenac's  war  parties,  amounting 
in  the  whole  to  a  hundred  and  ten  persons.  Guided  by  the 
watercourses,  whose  frozen  surface  furnished  them  a  path, 
they  traversed  a  wooded  wilderness  covered  with  deep  snows. 
(Jan.  1690,)  Pressing  stealthily  forward  in  a  single  file,  the 
foremost  wore  snow-shoes,  and  so  beat  a  track  for  the  rest. 
At  night  the  snow  was  thrown  up  toward  the  side  whence 
the  wind  came,  and  in  the  hollow  thus  scooped  out  the  party 
slept  on  branches  of  pine,  round  a  fire  in  the  midst.  A  little 
parched  corn  served  them  for  provisions,  eked  out  by  such 
game  as  they  killed.  After  a  twenty-two  days'  inarch,  intent 
on  their  bloody  purpose,  they  approached  Schenectady,  the 
object  of  their  toil.  This  was  a  Dutch  village  on  the  Mo- 
hawk, then  the  outpost  of  the  settlements  about  Albany. 
The  cluster  of  some  forty  houses  was  protected  by  a  palisade, 
but  the  gates  were  open  and  unguarded,  and  at  midnight 
the  inhabitants  slept  profoundly.  The  assailants  entered  in 
silence,  divided  themselves  into  several  parties,  and,  giving 
the  signal  by  the  terrible  war-whoop,  commenced  the  attack. 
Shrieks  of  women  and  children  answered.  Doors  were  broken 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  65 

open  ;  houses  set  on  fire  ;  blood  flowed.  Sixty  were  slain  on 
the  spot ;  twenty-seven  were  taken  prisoners ;  the  rest  fled, 
half  naked,  along  the  road  to  Albany  through  a  driving- 
snow-storm,  a  deep  snow,  and  cold  so  bitter  that  many  lost 
their  limbs  by  frost.  The  assailants  set  off  for  Canada  with 
their  prisoners  and  their  plunder,  and  effected  their  escape, 
though  not  without  serious  loss  inflicted  by  some  Mohawk 
warriors,  who  hastened  to  pursue  them.  The  terror  inspired 
by  this  attack  was  so  great,  that,  for  the  sake  of  aid  and 
support,  the  malcontents  who  held  Albany,  submitted  to  the 
hated  Leisler.  But  nothing  could  prevail  on  that  rash  and 
passionate  chief  to  use  his  authority  with  moderation.  He 
confiscated  the  property  of  his  principal  opponents.  Bayard 
and  Nichols  were  held  in  confinement;  and  for  the  arrest 
of  Livingston,  warrants  were  sent  to  Boston  and  Hartford, 
whither  he  had  fled  for  safety. 

Frontenac's  second  war  party,  composed  of  only  fifty-two 
persons,  departing  from  Three  Rivers,  a  village  half  Avay 
from  Montreal  to  Quebec,  ascended  the  St.  Francis,  entered 
the  valley  of  the  Upper  Connecticut,  and  thence  made  their 
way  across  the  mountains  and  forests  of  New  Hampshire. 
Presently  they  descended  on  Salmon  Falls,  a  frontier  village 
on  the  chief  branch  of  the  Piscataqua.  (March  27,  1690.) 
They  attacked  it  by  surprise,  killed  most  of  the  male  in- 
habitants, plundered  and  burned  the  houses,  and  carried  off 
fifty-four  prisoners,  chiefly  women  and  children,  whom  they 
drove  before  them,  laden  with  the  spoils.  While  thus  re- 
turning, they  fell  in  'with  the  third  war-party  from  Quebec, 
and,  joining  forces,  proceeded  to  attack  Casco.  A  part  of  the 
garrison  was  lured  into  an  ambuscade  and  destroyed.  The 
rest,  seeing  their  palisades  about  to  be  set  on  fire,  surrendered 
on  terms  as  prisoners  of  war.  (May.) 

Such  was  the  new  and  frightful  sort  of  warfare  to  which 
the  English  colonists  were  exposed.  The  savage  ferocity  of 
the  Indians,  guided  by  the  sagacity  and  civilized  skill  and 
enterprise  of  French  officers,  became  ten  times  more  terrible. 
The  influence  which  the  French  missionaries  had  acquired  by 
persevering  self-sacrifice  and  the  highest  efforts  of  Christian 
devotedness  was  now  availed  of,  as  too  often  happens,  by  mere 
worldly  policy,  to  stimulate  their  converts  to  hostile  inroads 
and  midnight  murders.  Eeligious  zeal  sharpened  the  edge 


fi6  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  savage  hate.  The  English  were  held  up  to  the  Indians 
not  merely  as  enemies,  but  as  heretics,  upon  whom  it  was  a 
Christian  duty-  to  make  war.  If  the  chaplet  of  victory  were 
missed,  at  least  the  crown  of  martyrdom  was  sure. 

These  cruel  Indian  inroads  seemed  to  the  sufferers  abun- 
dant confirmation  of  the  tales  of  the  Huguenots  scattered 
through  the  colonies  as  the  bloody  and  implacable  spirit  of 
the  Catholic  faith.  These  religious  refugees  were  so  numer- 
ous in  Boston  and  New  York,  as  to  have  in  each  of  those 
towns  a  church  of  their  own.  Hatred  of  popery  received  a 
new  impetus.  It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  few 
Catholics  of  Maryland,  though  their  fathers  had  been  the 
founders  of  that  colony,  were  disfranchised,  and  subjected  to 
all  the  disabilities  by  which,  in  Britain  and  Ireland,  the 
suppression  of  Catholicism  was  vainly  attempted.  Probably 
also  to  this  period  we  may  refer  the  act  of  Rhode  Island,  of 
unknown  date,  which  excluded  Catholics  from  becoming  free- 
men of  that  colony. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  Queen  Ann's,  or  "  Second  Intercolonial  War  "  between  "  Sam  "  and  the 
Order  of  Jesuits — The  Order  not  quite  ready  for  formidable  operations 
in  the  South — Retrospective  glance  at  acts  and  influences  of  the  Catholic 
Priesthood  in  Mexico  from  the  Conquest — Evidence  of  Clavigero  the 
Catholic  Historian  of  Mexico — The  monstrous  destruction  of  the  archives 
of  Historical  Pictures  in  Yucatan  by  an  "Ecclesiastic" — Destruction  of 
the  most  precious  Arts,  which  was  common  throughout  Mexico. 

THE  last  chapter  may  be  well  considered  as  settling  the 
question  of  the  participation  and  predominating  influence  of 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  first  intercolonial  war,  and  as 
against  the  sorely  beleaguered  Protestant  colonies  of  the 
north.  As  yet,  their  schemes  of  southern  acquisition  and 
supremacy  in  the  South  had  not  been  consummated  —  their 
cordon  of  "  -Seductions  "  not  sufficiently  completed  to  make 
their  active  demonstrations  in  that  quarter  so  formidable,  as 
to  render  more  detail  on  our  own  part  necessary.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  history  being  rather  to  render  clear  the  histori- 
cal relations  of  ;'  Sam"  to  his  internal  foes,  than  to  enter 
systematically  into  more  than  the  outline  of  others,  which 
illustrate  rather  the  minuter  phases  of  his  own  huge  devel- 
>pment,  and  his  relations  to  avowed  and  outward  enemies. 
It  now  becomes  necessary  that  we  should  look  somewhat  to 
those  Jesuit  antecedents  which  led  immediately  to  the  next 
even  more  extended  and  exterminating  war  —  the  Queen 
Ann's,  or  "  Second  Intercolonial  war" — between  "  Sam"  and 
his  desperate  foe — the  Order  of  Jesus ! 

The  moment  the  Jesuits  found  themselves  comparatively 
secure  of  their  foothold  in  Acadia,  which  might  form  for 

67 


68  HISTORICAL  AND 

them  a  rallying  point  upon  the  continent,  then,  with  that 
skillful  mixture  of  military  law  and  spiritual  despotism  which 
has  always  constituted  the  phenomenon  of  their  ascendency 
in  the  Christian  world,  they  pushed  forward  their  corpse-like 
trainbands  of  helpless  devotees,  in  eager  emulation  for  more 
extended  explorations  and  "  Keductions,"  upon  the  wilderness 
fastnesses  of  the  north-west,  in  search  of  the  sources  of  cer- 
tain great  traditionary  outlets  of  the  then  boundless  limits  of 
the  New  World,  which  they  meant  to  claim  and  assert  as 
their  own,  since  the  old  seemed  passing  so  rapidly  from 
their  grasp.  Gold  as  well  as  souls  seemed  always  to  have 
been  most  discreetly  mingled  with  their  aspirations  for  con- 
quest in  America  ;  and  the  earliest  delusions  of  gold  in  Aca- 
dia,  which  so  rapidly  gave  way  before  the  sterner  facts  of  a 
bleak  and  inhospitable  reality,  had  been  kept  alive  by  vague 
rumors  of  a  mighty  empire,  drained  by  endless  rivers  flowing 
through  sands  of  gold,  which  held  their  sources  far  in  a  mys- 
terious interior,  and  had  fired  anew  immaculate  ecstaticisms 
which  look  to  their  final  realization  in  a  "  golden  city,"  which, 
either  in  heaven  or  on  earth  was  to  constitute  their  reward. 
The  prodigious  results  of  the  conquests  of  Cortez  and  the 
Pizarros  had  not  wanted  of  circulation  through  the  right 
hands — but  then,  although  the  holy  Order  of  Jesus  had  not 
been  organized,  its  founders  had  not  failed  to  participate  in, 
and  comprehend  the  benefits  of,  such  acquisitions — indeed,  it 
had  been  during  the  immediate  ferment  of  European  mind, 
caused  by  the  introduction  of  this  new  and  mighty  element, 
that  the  crafty  and  sagacious  intellect  of  Loyola  projected 
this  late  and  most  fatal  organization  on  this  the  sole  predomi- 
nating idea  of  Jesuitism — though  the  enmity  to  Protestant- 
ism was  the  next  of  course,  as  he  saw  in  it  the  mortal 
antagonism  of  spiritual  despotism  ! 

That  these  apparently  unselfish  enterprises  of  the  early  Jes- 
uits should  have  proceeded  from  such  causes,  why  need  we  stop 
to  argue  ?  But  it  may  be  well  that  we  should  give  a  few  pre- 
liminary facts  as  illustrating,  here  and  there,  the  condition 
in  which  the  early  catholic  conquest  left  Old  and  New  Mexico. 
First,  as  showing  in  how  much  the  Catholic  Church  proper 
has  conserved  to  the  preservation  of  the  ancient  literature  and 
arts  of  all  countries  which  have  been  conquered  by  Catholic 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  69 

arms.  This  event  we  now  quote,  occurred  during  the  reign 
of  Charles  V,  of  Spain,  when  as  the  dominant  power  of 
Europe,  he  could  afford  to  wage  single-handed  war  against 
the  rest  of  the  world — when  Cortez  was  sending  him  the 
ravished  treasures  of  the  New  World,  and  completing  the 
conquest  of  the  whole  Mexican  empire — when  his  steel-clad 
cohorts  were  led  by  tonsiled  priests  hearing  the  holy  cross  and 
every  new  scene  of  rapine  and  massacre  was  only  consecrated 
by  the  Catholic  Priests.  One  of  their  own  number,  Clavigero, 
in  a  formal  history  of  the  early  Mexican  Empire  and  con- 
quest by  his  own  friends,  is  compelled  to  relate  as  follows,  in 
his  zeal  as  an  antiquarian,  concerning  one  incident  of  the  con- 
quest of  Yucatan : 

Though  games,  dances,  and  music,  conduced  less  to  utility 
than  pleasure,  this  was  not  the  case  with  History  and  Paint- 
ing ;  two  arts  which  ought  not  to  be  separated  in  the  history 
of  Mexico,  as  they  had  no  other  historians  than  their  paint- 
ers, nor  any  other  writings  than  their  paintings  to  commemo- 
rate the  events  of  the  nation. 

The  Toltecas  were  the  first  people  of  the  New  World  who 
employed  the  art  of  painting  for  the  ends  of  history  ;  at  least 
we  know  of  no  other  nation  which  did  so  before  them.  The 
same  practice  prevailed,  from  time  immemorial,  among  the 
Acolhuas,  the  seven  Aztecan  tribes,  and  among  all  the  pol- 
ished nations  of  Anahuac.  The  Chechemecas  and  the  Otomies 
were  taught  it  by  the  Acolhuas  and  the  Toltecas,  when  they 
deserted  their  savage  life. 

Among  the  paintings  of  the  Mexicans,  and  all  those 
nations,  there  were  many  which  were  mere  portraits  or  images 
of  their  gods,  their  kings,  their  heroes,  their  animals,  and 
their  plants.  With  these  the  royal  palaces  of  Mexico  and 
Tezcuco  both  abounded.  Others  were  historical,  containing 
an  account  of  particular  events,  such  as  are  the  first  thirteen 
paintings  of  the  collection  of  Mendoza,  and  that  of  the  jour- 
ney of  the  Aztecas,  which  appears  in  the  work  of  the  trav- 
eler Gemelli.  Others  were  mythological,  containing  the 
mysteries  of  their  religion.  Of  this  kind  is  the  volume  which 
is  preserved  in  the  great  library  of  the  Order  of  Bologna. 
Others  were  codes,  in  which  were  compiled  their  laws,  their 
rites,  their  customs,  their  taxes,  or  tributes ;  and  such  are  all 
those  of  the  above  mentioned  collection  of  Mendoza,  from  the 


70  HISTORICAL  AND 

fourteenth  to  the  sixty-third.  Others  were  chronological, 
astronomical,  or  astrological,  in  which  was  represented  their 
calendar,  the  position  of  the  stars,  the  changes  of  the  moon, 
eclipses,  and  prognostications  of  the  variations  of  the  weather. 
This  kind  .of  painting  was  called  by  them  Tonalamatl.  Si- 
guenza  makes  mention0  of  a  painting  representing  such  like 
prognostications  which  he  inserted  in  his  Ciclographia  Mexi- 
cana.  Acosta  relates  '  that  in  the  province  of  Yucatan,  there 
were  certain  volumes,  bound  up  according  to  their  manner, 
in  which  the  wise  Indians  had  marked  the  distribution  of 
their  seasons,  the  knowledge  of  the  planets,  of  animals,  and 
other  natural  productions,  and  also  their  antiquity ;  things  all 
highly  curious  and  minutely  described ; ?  which,  as  the  same 
author  says,  were  lost  by  the  indiscreet  zeal  of  an  ecclesiastic, 
who,  imagining  them  to  be  full  of  superstitious  meanings, 
burned  them,  to  the  great  grief  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
utmost  regret  of  the  curious  among  the  Spaniards.  Other 
paintings  were  topographical,  or  chorographical,  which  served 
not  only  to  show  the  extent  and  boundaries  of  possessions, 
but  likewise  the  situation  of  places,  the  direction  of  the  coasts, 
and  the  course  of  rivers.  Cortez  says,  in  his  first  letter  to 
Charles  Y,  that  having  made  inquiries  to  know  if  there  was 
any  secure  harbor  for  vessels  in  the  Mexican  gulf,  Monte- 
zuma  presented  him  a  painting  of  the  whole  coast,  from  the 
port  of  Chalchiuhcuecan,  where  at  present  Vera  Cruz  lies,  to 
the  river  Coatzacualco.  Bernal  Diaz  relates  that  Cortez  also, 
in  a  long  and  difficult  voyage  which  he  made  to  the  Bay  of 
Honduras,  made  use  of  a  chart  which  was  presented  to  him 
by  the  lords  of  Coatzacualco,  in  which  all  the  places  and  rivers 
were  marked  from  the  coast  of  Coatzacualco  to  Hueja- 
callan. 

The  Mexican  empire  abounded  with  all  those  kinds  of 
paintings ;  for  their  painters  were  innumerable,  and  there 
was  hardly  anything  left  unpainted.  If  those  had  been  pre- 
served, there  would  have  been  nothing  wanting  to  the  history 
of  Mexico ;  but  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel,  suspicious 
that  superstition  was  mixed  with  all  their  paintings,  made  a 
furious  destruction  of  them.  Of  all  those  which  were  to  be 
found  in  Tezcuco,  where  the  chief  school  of  painting  was,  they 

0  In  his  work  entitled,  Libra  Astronomica,  printed  in  Mexico. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  71 

collected  such  a  mass,  in  the  square  of  the  market,  it  appeared 
like  a  little  mountain  ;  to  this  they  set  fire  and  buried  in  the 
ashes  the  memory  of  many  most  interesting  and  curious 
events.  The  loss  of  those  monuments  of  antiquity  was  inex- 
pressibly afflicting  to  the  Indians,  and  regretted  sufficiently 
afterward  by  the  authors  of  it,  when  they  became  sensible 
of  their  error  ;  for  they  were  compelled  to  endeavor  to  remedy 
the  evil,  in  the  first  place,  by  obtaining  information  from  the 
mouths  of  the  Indians  ;  secondly,  by  collecting  all  the  paint- 
ings which  had  escaped  their  fury,  to  illustrate  the  history 
of  the  nation  ;  but  although  they  recovered  many,  these  were 
not  sufficient ;  for  from  that  time  forward,  the  possessors  of 
paintings  became  so  jealous  of  their  preservation  and  conceal- 
ment from  the  Spaniards,  it  has  proved  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible to  make  them  part  with  one  of  them.  ° 

0  The  History  of  Mexico ;  Collected  from  Spanish  and  Mexican  Historians, 
from  Manuscripts  and  ancient  Paintings  of  the  Indians,  together  with  the 
Conquest  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards;  Illustrated  by  Engravings,  with 
Critical  Dissertations  on  the  Land,  Animals,  and  Inhabitants  of  Mexico. 
By  Abbe  D.  Francesco  Saverio  Clavigero.  Translated  from  the  original 
Italian,  by  Charles  Cullen,  Esq.  In  three  volumes.  Vol.  ii. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Vandalism  of  the  Catholic  Priesthood  continued  in  New  Mexico — Anti- 
quarian researches  concerning  the  first  Missions  to  New  Mexico — Con- 
quest of  California — Various  efforts  to  penetrate  the  mysterious  gold 
region  by  the  Catholic  governors  of  California — Extermination  of  the 
Catholic  Spaniards  of  the  Conquestador-Occupation — Hidden  ruins  and 
strange  Traditions — Ruins  of  magnificent  Catholic  Cities — Marvelous 
treasures  won  by  Cortez  from  Montezuma. 

CLAVIGERO'S  account  of  the  destructive  proclivities  of  the 
Catholic  priests  who  accompanied  the  Conquestadors  under 
Cortez,  to  the  dismemberment  and  annihilation  of  the  nation- 
alities of  the  Mexican  empire,  does  not  cover  the  whole 
ground  of  complaint  with  which  universal  history  teems 
against  these  rare  conservators  of  the  literature  and  science 
of  the  world.  Nor  was  it  to  Old  Mexico  proper,  that  these 
vandalish  ravages  of  savage  intolerance  were  confined.  We 
shall  turn  to  New  Mexico,  which  is  nearer  home,  for  the 
examples  of  exterminating  bigotry,  which  surpass  in  enor- 
mity the  wrongs  of  even  the  old  empire. 

The  gold-craving  white  man  seems  to  have  been  destined, 
according  to  the  ancient  faith  of  the  natives  of  Mexico,  to  be 
its  scourge  and  conqueror.0 

Cortez  found  Mexico  half  conquered  for  him  by  an  old 
tradition.  It  was  taught  in  their  temples,  and  believed  by 
the  whole  Indian  population,  that  a  race  of  white  men  was  to 
come  from  the  east  to  rule  the  natives  of  the  land.  The 
apparition  of  a  band  of  fair-complexioned  men  clothed  in 
arrow-proof  garments  of  steel,  and  armed  with  the  death- 
dealing  firebolts  of  heaven,  sealed  the  truth  of  this  imme- 
morial prediction  to  the  awe-struck  Mexicans,  and  they  bowed 
in  the  helpless  submission  of  their  superstitious  fears,  to  the 
wonderful  strangers.  However  this  belief  originated,  it  is 

0  See  Appendix,  for  curious  note. 

72 


[REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  73 

singular  that  it  should  have  preceded  the  approach  of  the 
white  man  on  every  part  of  America,  and  that  its  active 
effect  should  to  this  day,  fortify  the  unexplored  gold  region 
against  his  advance  within  its  limits. 

~  Perhaps  this  land,  in  which  are,  unquestionahly,  existent 
edifices  of  Aztec  construction,  and  which  still  hears  the  name 
of  Montezuma  pronounced  with  reverence,  may  have  been  the 
cradle  of  the  proud  conquerors  who  swept  the  Mexican  plateau, 
and  planted  there  the  golden  empire  which  Cortez  overthrew. 
If  so,  in  this,  their  last  unsubdued  stronghold,  the  light  and 
liberality  of  American  enterprise  may  yet  discover  the  final 
dwelling-place  of  their  history  and  religion,  and  that  will  be 
of  more  worth  than  their  glittering  ores. 

There  is  a  curious  Indian  superstition,  familiar  to  most  of 
the  early  Texan  borderers,  often  told  in  connection  with  the 
sad  prophecy  of  the  extinction  of  the  red  race  under  the 
breath  of  white  civilization.  The  Indians  affirm  that  the 
honey-bee  always  goes  before  the  white  settler  to  warn  the 
red-man  to  retire  and  yield  up  his  hunting-grounds  to  the 
dominion  of  the  ax  and  plow.  In  1820,  the  Indians  say,  the 
first  bees  made  their  appearance  on  the  Brazos  and  Colorado 
rivers,  in  Texas,  and  five  years  after,  Austin's  settlement 
arose  on  their  banks  and  rendered  the  Indians  thenceforth, 
aliens  and  intruders  on  their  native  soil. 

Before  the  invasion  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards,  there  was 
no  mining  science  in  the  country,  and  the  gold,  which  greatly 
outbalanced  the  silver  in  quantity,  was  simply  gathered  from 
or  near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  mostly  brought  by 
porters  from  great  distances  in  the  interior  of  the  country. 
The  preponderance  of  gold  before,  and  of  silver  since  the 
Conquest,  is  readily  explained  by  the  introduction  of  a  more 
elaborate  and  thorough  mining  system.  Silver  is  rarely 
found  in  a  pure,  unmixed  state  on  the  surface,  and  could 
only  be  produced,  in  large  quantities,  by  the  cruel  and  scien- 
tific despotism  of  Spain.  The  skill,  implements,  and  experi- 
ence of  European  art,  and  the  human  force  of  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  the  native  population,  were  turned  into 
the  mines,  and  then  the  ore  was  pursued  into  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  by  the  conquerors ;  and  numberless  silver-mines, 
that' lay  untouched  and  useless  under  the  simple  Aztec  rule, 
became  immensely  productive  under  the  Spaniards.  Gold 
7 


74  HISTORICAL  AND 

mines  were  seldom  worked  when  found ;  and  those  distant 
ones,  from  which  the  native  princes  gathered  a  ready  harvest, 
independent  of  science,  and  without  penetrating  the  earth, 
are  now  lost  in  obscurity.  In  the  reckless  annihilation  of 
the  native  priesthood,  and  the  sweeping  destruction  of  their 
records,  the  Catholics  buried  much  valuable  lore.  As  if 
their  murdered  faith  had,  in  its  last  death-agony,  pressed  the 
signet  of  forgetfulness  on  the  lips  of  its  desolate  and  aban- 
doned children,  the  most  beautiful  of  their  arts,  and  the 
most  coveted  of  their  gifts  passed  away  from  the  native  Mex- 
icans in  a  single  generation.  It  seemed  to  be  with  them  a 
religious  and  patriotic  duty  to  extinguish  every  light  that 
could  serve  their  hard  taskmasters.  Art  has  lost  their 
exquisite  colors  for  painting,  their  gorgeous  feather-work, 
their  adamantine-tempered  copper ;  and  science  misses  their 
historic  records  and  their  astronomical  calculations,  while 
avarice  mourns  the  lost  secret  of  their  mines  of  emeralds, 
amethysts,  and  rich  beds  of  gold. 

For  the  first  two  centuries  after  the  conquest  by  Cortez, 
the  Indian  population  maintained  a  stern  and  desperate 
silence  on  the  subject  of  gold.  It  was  rare  that  either  bribes 
or  tortures  could  induce  an  Indian  to  admit  that  he  knew 
where  any  could  be  found,  and  thus  those  mines  in  the  more 
remote  provinces  fell  into  immediate  oblivion.  The  vague 
and  traditionary  evidences  of  their  existence,  were  not  incen- 
tives enough  to  warrant  the  toil  and  danger  of  exploration 
and  conquest,  while  those  at  home,  in  the  midst  of  a  subdued 
serf-population,  gave  such  prompt  and  liberal  returns. 

Some  may  suppose  that  the  chaos  and  oppression  of  the 
Spanish  Conquest  could  not  so  utterly  extinguish  the  knowl- 
edge of  excessively  rich  mines,  as  to  prevent  their  avaricious 
conquerors  from  bringing  them  to  use,  however  remote  their 
situation ;  but  to  this  may  be  opposed  the  undeniable  fact, 
that  the  locality  of  the  emerald  mines  is  absolutely  lost, 
though  their  existence  somewhere  is  as  positively  a  matter 
of  record  as  any  event  of  the  Conquest.  The  same  destroy- 
ing power  that  swept  away  the  temples,  the  religion,  the 
social  customs,  the  national  records,  and  even  the  language 
and  history  of  the  conquered  race  in  one  overwhelming  wave, 
annihilated,  also,  much  knowledge  that  would  have  been 
acceptable  from  its  own  interest. 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  75 

Light  enough,  and  temptation  enough,  remained  however, 
to  urge  the  Spaniards  to  attempt  the  subjugation  of  the  Cali- 
fornia basin  ;  but  all  that  we  know  certainly  of  their  expedition 
is,  their  unsatisfactory  results,  and  the  shadowy  reports  brought 
back  by  the  survivors,  of  well-built  cities  in  the  interior,  and 
treasures  of  gold  in  the  encircling  mountains  of  the  uncon- 
querable country.  On  the  San  Saba,  as  well  as  on  the  Pecos, 
there  is  unquestionably,  vast  mineral  wealth,  formerly  not 
unknown  to  the  Mexicans,  but  which  nothing  but  the  firm, 
stable  protection  of  our  government,  and  the  enterprising 
audacity  of  our  citizens,  can  hope  to  wrest  from  the  supersti- 
tious control  of  the  Indians. 

The  wide  expanse  of  country  above  the  Kio  Gila,  and  be- 
tween that  river  and  the  Bio  Colorado-,  as  also  the  territory 
next  beyond  the  mountains  to  the  eastward,  embracing  the 
valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  that  of  the  Pecos,  early  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  Spaniards.  No  sooner  had  they 
subdued  the  Aztecs  and  their  dependencies,  than  they  turned 
their  armed  enterprises  northward,  toward  the  regions  just 
indicated,  and  concerning  the  mineral  riches  of  which,  they 
had  received,  from  their  first  landing  in  Mexico,  many  vague 
but  glowing  accounts.  The  history  and  results  of  their  en- 
terprises may  be  thus  rapidly  summed  up. 

No  sooner  had  the  general  subjugation  of  Mexico  and  its 
immediate  dependencies  been  completed,  and  its  provinces 
partitioned  among  the  Spanish  leaders,  than  the  attention 
of  the  latter  was  directed  to  the  unknown  region  beyond 
them,  and  of  the  relics  and  magnificence  of  which  they  often 
received  the  most  exaggerated  accounts.  Nuno  de  Guzman, 
to  whom  had  been  assigned  the  governorship  of  New  Gallicia, 
comprising  the  northern  division  of  Mexico,  heard  many  of 
their  accounts,  relating  to  the  countries  northward  of  his 
jurisdiction,  which  excited  his  curiosity  and  influenced  his 
avarice.  He  had  in  his  service  a  Tejos  (Taos  ?)  Indian,  who 
told  him  of  a  vast  northern  country,  abounding  in  gold  and 
silver.  Confiding  in  his  accounts,  Guzman  collected  an  army, 
and  in  1530,  in  less  than  ten  years  after  Cortez  entered  the 
valley  of  Anahuac,  started  for  this  unknown  region.  Diffi- 
culties intervened,  and  the  death  of  his  Indian  guide  induced 
him  to  abandon  his  enterprise,  although  entertaining  implicit 
faith  in  the  reports  that  had  reached  him. 


76  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  accounts  of  Cabeca  de  Vaca,  who  penetrated  from  the 
coast  of  Florida  to  the  Pacific,  and  who,  six  years  after  the 
abandonment  of  Guzman's  expedition,  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  city  of  Mexico,  revived  the  waning  excitement  in  respect 
to  the  rich  mineral  region  of  the  north.  Although  he  could 
convey  no  personal  information  on  the  subject,  he  had  satis- 
fied himself  of  the  existence  of  a  semi-civilized  people  in 
that  direction,  and  had  received  from  the  Indians  accounts 
of  its  riches,  coinciding  with  those  of  the  Taos  Indian  already 
named. 

Vasquez  Coronado,  who  had  succeeded  Guzman  in  the 
governorship  of  New  Gallicia,  immediately  took  measures  to 
ascertain  the  truth  of  these  reports.  He  dispatched  north- 
ward, with  instructions  to  penetrate  to  these  regions,  a  monk 
named  Niza,  who  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Gila,  when,  fright- 
ened by  the  prospect  before  him,  he  returned  to  Goronado, 
bringing  him  a  long  account  of  his  adventures,  partly  true, 
but  for  the  most  part,  as  was  afterward  discovered,  fabulous. 
He  professed  to  have  discovered,  northward  of  the  Gila,  large 
and  populous  cities,  surpassing  Mexico  in  size,  splendor  and 
wealth.  He  represented  the  people  to  be  possessed  of  great 
abundance  of  gold,  and  that  their  commonest  vessels,  and  the 
walls  of  their  temples  were  covered  with  that  precious  metal. 
Upon  the  authority  of  "  a  man  born  in  the  principal  city  of 
Cibola" — the  name  given  to  the  northern  El  Dorado — "  the 
houses  were  built  of  lime  and  stone,  the  gates  and  small 
pillars  of  turquoises,  and  all  the  vessels  and  ornaments  of 
the  houses  were  made  of  gold."  Other  equally  extravagant 
statements  were  obtained  from  other  sources,  as  we  perceive 
in  the  subjoined  extracts,  from  a  letter  written  by  Coronado 
to  the  viceroy,  Mendoza,  bearing  date  March  8,  1539. 

"  In  the  province  of  Topira  there  are  no  great  cities,  but 
the  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  are  very  good;  and  within 
them  the  people  have  great  stores  of  gold,  which  is,  as  it  were, 
lost,  because  they  know  not  what  use  to  put  it  to.  They 
wear  emeralds  and  other  precious  jewels  upon  their  breasts, 
are  valiant,  and  have  very  strong  armor  made  of  silver, 
fashioned  after  the  shapes  of  beasts.  Beyond  Topira  there 
is  still  another  country,  the  people  whereof  wear  on  their 
bodies  gold,  emeralds,  and  other  precious  stones,  and  are 
commonly  served  in  gold  and  silver,  wherewith  they  cover 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  77 

their  houses ;  and  the  chief  men  wear  great  chains  of  gold, 
well  wrought,  about  their  necks,  and  are  appareled  with 
painted  garments,  and  have  a  great  store  of  wild  kine." 

At  this  time  a  sea  expedition  on  the  Pacific  was  undertaken 
by  Ulloa,  uii(br  the  direction  of  Cortez,  which  had  for  its 
object  not  less  the  discovery  of  the  golden  region  of  the 
north,  than  the  exploration  of  the  coast.  We  have  no  room 
to  trace  its  progress.  Suffice  to  say,  it  returned  with  no 
tangible  evidence  of  the  wealth  which  it  was  expected  to 
discover. 

Cortez,  who  fancied  he  saw  another  Mexico  in  the  golden 
country  of  the  north,  which  was  now  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion on  every  tongue,  was  eager  to  add  its  conquest  to  his 
already  high  renown.  And  when,  in  1540,  it  was  resolved 
to  send  northward  a  land  expedition  to  explore  the  country, 
the  right  of  command  was  contested  between  Cortez,  as  Cap- 
tain-General of  New  Spain,  and  Memloza,  "as  Viceroy  of 
Mexico.  The  latter  was  successful,  and  Cortez,  disappointed 
and  disgusted,  returned  to  Spain. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Coronado, 
who  set  out,  with  a  large  party  of  armed  followers,  early  in 
the  year  1540.  After  a  protracted  journey  he  reached  the 
Rio  Gila,  then  called  the  Nexpa,  and  boldly  ventured  upon 
the  rugged  and  broken  country  beyond  it,  toward  the  north. 
After  many  days'  travel,  in  which  he  encountered  innumer- 
able obstacles  and  incredible  hardships,  he  reached  the  valley 
of  a  stream  flowing  westward,  and  which  recent  discoveries 
have  shown  probably  to  have  been  the  Rio  Salinas,  the  princi- 
pal northern  tributary  of  the  Gila.  Here  he  found  the  cities 
of  Cibola.  The  delusion  was  then  dispelled.  Instead  of 
cities  glittering  with  gold,  he  found  a  people  living  in  con- 
siderable towns,  cultivating  the  soil,  and  furnishing  striking 
contrasts,  in  their  simplicity,  to  the  splendor  which  the  con- 
querors had  encountered  in  Mexico  and  Peru.  They  were 
not,  however,  ignorant  of  the  precious  metals  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, Coronado,  whose  ardor  was  already  effectually  cooled, 
expressly  states  that  he  "here  found  some  quantity  of  gold 
and  silver,  which  those  skilled  in  minerals  esteem  to  be  very 
good.  To  this  hour,"  he  adds,  with  evident  regret,  "  I  can 
not  learn  of  this  people  where  they  obtain  it,  and  I  see  they 
refuse  to  tell  me  the  truth,  imagining  that  in  a  short  time 


78  HISTORICAL  AND 

I  will  depart  hence.  I  hope  in  God"  concludes  the  devout 
commander,  "  they  shall  no  longer  excuse  themselves !"  The 
natives,  nevertheless,  succeeded  in  excusing  themselves,  and 
upon  their  representations  Coronado  was  induced  to  cross  the 
mountains  to  the  eastward,  into  the  valley  of  the  Kio  Grande, 
where  he  was  further  amused  with  accounts  of  a  mysterious 
city  called  Quivera.0  Here,  it  was  said,  ruled  "  a  king 
whose  name  was  Tatratax,  with  a  long  heard,  hoary-headed, 
and  rich,  who  worshiped  a  cross  of  gold,  and  the  image  of 
a  woman,  which  was  the  queen  of  heaven."  "This  news," 
says  Gomara,  "  did  greatly  rejoice  and  cheer  up  the  army, 
although  some  thought  it  false,  and  the  report  of  the  friars." 
The  golden  Quivera,  however,  retreated  like  a  phantom  be- 
fore the  disappointed  and  impatient  Spaniards.  The  natives, 
anxious  only  to  rid  themselves  of  the  hated  presence  of  the 
invaders,  responded  to  every  inquiry  by  pointing  to  the  north- 
eastward, in  which  direction  Coronado  moved  with  his  army. 
Instead  of  the  long-sought  Quivera,  he  found  only  the  high, 
broad  and  desert  plains  of  the  great  buffalo  range,  traversed 
by  the  roving  Arapahoes  and  hostile  Pawnees,  and  after 
wandering  long  in  this  inhospitable  region,  he  returned 
completely  dispirited  to  the  Eio  Grande,  and  speedily  retraced 
his  steps  to  Mexico. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  that,  while  at  Tucayan,  a  short 
distance  to  the  northward  of  Cibola,  the  towns  of  which  still 
exist,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  westward  of 
Santa  Fd,  on  some  of  the  northern  tributaries  of  the  Gila, 
he  obtained  an  account  of  a  great  river  to  the  north-west 
(undoubtedly  the  Colorado,)  beyond  which  were  mines  of  gold 
and  great  treasure.  Thither  he  dispatched  an  officer,'  Lopez 
de  Cardenas,  with  twelve  men,  who  penetrated  to  the  Color- 
ado, but  finding  the  country  barren  and  uninviting,  and  the 
weather  cold,  he  returned  to  Cibola  without  making  any  dis- 
coveries of  interest. 

The  unfortunate  results  of  Coronado's  expedition  had  the 
effect  to  discourage  all  similar  enterprises  in  the  same  quar- 
ter. Nevertheless,  forty  years  thereafter,  in  1586,  Antonio 
de  Espejo,  animated  by  the  accounts  of  a  Franciscan  monk 
named  Euiz,  set  out  from  the  mines  of  San  Barbara  in 

0  This  fabulous  city  is  not  the  "  Gran  Quivera  "  of  the  valley  of  the  Pecos 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  79 

Mexico,  for  the  rich  regions  which  he  was  assured  existed  far 
to  the  north-west.  He  went  through  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  where  he  found  numerous  traces  of  mineral  wealth, 
and  finally  reached  the  towns  of  the  Cibola.  He  here  heard 
repeated  the  stories  that  had  been  told  to  Coronada,  which, 
however,  he  relates  in  more  distinct  terms.  He  was  told  by 
the  natives  that  "sixty  days'  journey  to  the  north-west  was  a 
very  mighty  lake,  upon  the  banks  of  which  stood  many  great 
and  goad  towns,  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  had 
plenty  of  gold,"  etc.  He  determined  to  proceed  thither,  but 
after  going  thirty  leagues,  he  came  to  the  towns  of  the 
Moqui,  when,  deserted  by  his  followers,  he  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  his  design.  He,  nevertheless,  "  learned  much  of 
the  great  lake  aforesaid,"  the  reports  agreeing  fully  with 
what  he  had  before  heard  of  the  great  abundance  of  gold  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  lake. 

It  is  eminently  worthy  of  remark,  that  before  returning,  he 
visited  "certain  very  rich  mines''  in -the  vicinity  of  the  Moqui, 
(say  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  west  of  Santa  Fe)  from 
which  he  assures  us  he  took  with  his  own  hands,  "exceedingly 
rich  metals  holding  great  quantities  of  silver."  These  metals, 
he  adds  further,  are  found  in  broad  and  accessible  veins. 

It  seems  certain,  both  from  the  accounts  of  Coronado  and 
Espejo,  who  alone  have  ever  penetrated  this  northern  country, 
that  the  natives  had  gold  in  their  possession.  It  can  not  be 
supposed  that  it  was  obtained  from  so  remote  a  deposit  as  that 
on  the  Sacramento;  and  the  inference  that  it  was  found  in 
their  own  vicinity,  near  the  shores  of  the  golden-sanded  lake, 
to  which  their  accounts  refer,  is  sustained  by  the  direct  state- 
ments of  Espejo,  quoted  above. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  immediately 
southward  from  the  country  of  the  Cabela,  described  by  Coro- 
nado, and  near  the  point  where  he  probably  crossed  the  Gila, 
the  little  river  Prierte  comes  down  from  between  the  high 
mountains  of  the  north.  Concerning  this  stream,  Col.  Emory 
says,  in  his  recent  report  of  the  march  of  the  army  of  the 
west  through  the  valley  of  the  Gila — "  As  the  story  goes,  the 
Prierte  flows  down  from  the  mountains  burnished  with  gold. 
Its  sands  are  said  to  be  full  of  the  precious  metal.  A  few  ad- 
venturers, who  ascended  the  river,  hunting  beaver,  washed  the 
sands  at  night,  where  they  halted,  and  were  richly  rewarded 


80  HISTORICAL  AND 

for  their  trouble.  Tempted  by  their  success,  they  made  a 
second  trip,  but  were  attacked  and  most  of  them  killed  by 
the  Indians.  My  authority  for  this  statement  is  Londeau,  who, 
though  illiterate,  is  truthful."  It  is  well  known  that  there 
are  gold  mines  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  east- 
ward of  this  point,  which  have  been,  and  still  are,  worked 
with  considerable  success. 

The  mention  made  by  Espejo  and  other  early  writers,  of 
mines  and  mineral  wealth  in  the  upper  half  of  the  valley  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  probably  in  the  valley  of  the  Pecos  river, 
has  been  confirmed  by  later  authorities,  whose  accounts  have 
superseded  those  of  an  earlier  date.  A  number  of  mines  are 
now  worked  in  the  valley,  and  from  what  is  now  known  of  the 
mineral  productiveness  of  the  Pacific  slope,  it  is  reasonable  to 
conclude  that  the  intervening  country  is  equally  rich  in  the 
precious  metals.  Indeed,  from  the  geological  features  of  the 
country,  it  can  hardly  be  otherwise.0 

The  rapid  sketches  we  have  so  far  furnished,  cover  much 
of  the  earlier  historical  aspects  of  this  period,  drawn  from 
strictly  antiquarian  researches  ;  we  will  now  proceed  to  give 
from  more  modern  authorities,  later  views  of  our  subject. 
Gregg,  the  intelligent  and  agreeable  Santa  Fd  and  New 
Mexican  traveler,  devotes  an  interesting  chapter  to  this  sub- 
ject in  his  book  "  Commerce  of  America."  He  says : 

"  Tradition  speaks  of  numerous  and  productive  mines  hav- 
ing been  in  operation  in  New  Mexico  before  the  expulsion  of 
the  Spaniards  in  1680  ;  but  that  the  Indians,  seeing  that  the 
cupidity  of  the  conquerors  had  been  the  cause  of  their  former 
cruel  oppressions,  determined  to  conceal  all  the  mines  by  fill- 
ing them  up,  and  obliterating  as  much  as  possible  every  trace 
of  them.  This  was  done  so  effectually,  as  is  told,  that  after 
the  second  conquest,  (the  Spaniards  in  the  meantime  not  hav- 
ing turned  their  attention  to  mining  pursuits  for  a  series  of 
years,)  succeeding  generations  were  never  able  to  discover 
them  again.  Indeed,  it  is  now  generally  credited  by  the 
Spanish  population,  that  the  Pueblo  Indians,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  are  acquainted  with  the  locales  of  a  great  number  of 
these  wonderful  mines,  of  which  they  most  sedulously  preserve 

0  The  Author  of  Sam  is  indebted  for  much  of  the  above  narrative,  to  the 
researches  of  E.  G.  Squire,  the  antiquarian. 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  81 

the  secret.  Bumor  further  asserts  that  the  old  men  and 
sages  of  the  Pueblos  periodically  lecture  the  youths  on  this 
subject,  warning  them  against  discovering  the  mines  to  the 
Spaniards,  lest  the  cruelties  of  the  original  conquest  be  re- 
newed toward  them,  and  they  be  forced  to  toil  and  suffer  in 
those  mines  as  in  days  of  yore.  To  the  more  effectual  pres- 
ervation of  secrecy,  it  is  also  stated  that  they  have  called  in 
the  aid  of  superstition,  by  promulgating  the  belief  that  the 
Indian  who  reveals  the  location  of  these  hidden  treasures  will 
surely  perish  by  the  wrath  of  their  gods. 

Playing  upon  the  credulity  of  the  people,  it  sometimes 
happens  that  a  roguish  Indian  will  amuse  himself  at  the 
expense  of  his  reputed  superiors  in  intelligence,  by  proffering 
to  disclose  some  of  these  concealed  treasures.  I  once  knew  a 
waggish  savage  of  this  kind  to  propose  to  show  a  valley  where 
virgin  gold  could  be  "scraped  up  by  the  basket-full."  On  a 
bright  Sunday  morning,  the  time  appointed  for  the  expedi- 
tion, the  chuckling  Indian  sot  out  with  a  train  of  Mexicans 
at  his  heels,  provided  with  mules  and  horses,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  meal-bags  to  carry  in  the  golden  stores ;  but  as 
the  shades  of  evening  were  closing  around  the  party,  he  dis- 
covered— that  he  couldn't  find  the  place. 

It  is  not  at  all  probable,  however,  that  the  aborigines 
possess  a  tenth  part  of  the  knowledge  of  these  ancient  foun- 
tains of  wealth,  that  is  generally  attributed  to  them ;  but  that 
many  valuable  mines  were  once  wrought  in  this  province,  not 
only  tradition  but  authenticated  records  and  existing  relics 
sufficiently  prove.  In  every  quarter  of  the  territory  there 
are  still  to  be  seen  vestiges  of  ancient  excavations,  and  in 
some  places,  ruins  of  considerable  towns  evidently  reared  for 
mining  purposes. 

Among  these  ancient  ruins  the  most  remarkable  are 
those  of  La  Gran  Quivira,  about  one  hundred  miles  southward 
of  Santa  Fd.  This  appears  to  have  been  a  considerable  city, 
larger  and  richer  by  far  than  the  present  capital  of  New 
Mexico  has  ever  been.  Many  walls,  particularly  those  of 
churches,  still  stand  erect  amid  the  desolation  that  surrounds 
them,  as  if  their  sacredness  had  been  a  shield  against  which 
Time  dealt  his  blows  in  vain.  The  style  of  architecture  is 
altogether  superior  to  anything  at  present  to  be  found  north 
of  Chihuahua — being  of  hewn  stone,  a  building  material 


82  HISTORICAL  AND 

wholly  unused  in  New  Mexico.  What  is  more  extraordinary 
still,  is,  that  there  is  no  water  within  less  than  some  ten  miles 
of  the  ruins ;  yet  we  find  several  stone  cisterns,  and  remains 
of  aqueducts  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length,  leading  from  the 
neighboring  mountains,  from  whence  water  was  no  doubt  con- 
veyed. And,  as  there  seem  to  be  no  indications  whatever  of 
the  inhabitants  ever  having  been  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  what  could  have  induced  the  rearing  of  a  city  in 
such  an  arid,  woodless  plain  as  this,  except  the  proximity  of 
some  valuable  mine,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine.  From  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  place  and  the  remains  of  the  cisterns 
still  existing,  the  object  of  pursuit  in  this  case  would  seem  to 
have  been  a  placer,  a  name  applied  to  mines  of  gold-dust  inter- 
mixed with  the  earth.  However,  other  mines  have  no  doubt 
been  worked  in  the  adjacent  mountains,  as  many  spacious 
pits  are  found,  such  as  are  usually  dug  in  pursuit  of  ores  of 
silver,  etc.;  and  it  is  stated  that  in  several  places  heaps  of 
scoria,  are  still  to  be  seen. 

By  some  persons  these  ruins  have  been  supposed  to  be  the 
remains  of  an  ancient  Pueblo  or  aboriginal  city.  That  is  not 
probable,  however  ;  for  though  the  relics  of  aboriginal  temples 
might  possibly  be  mistaken  for  those  of  Catholic  churches,  yet 
it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  the  Spanish  coat-of-arms  would 
be  found  sculptured  and  painted  upon  their  facades,  as  is  the 
case  in  more  than  one  instance.  The  most  rational  accounts 
represent  this  to  have  been  a  wealthy  Spanish  city  before  the 
general  massacre  of  1680,  in  which  calamity  the  inhabitants 
perished — all  except  one,  as  the  story  goes  ;  and  that  their 
immense  treasures  were  buried  in  the  ruins.  Some  credu- 
lous adventurers  have  lately  visited  the  spot  in  search  of 
these  long-lost  coffers,  but  as  yet  none  have  been  found.0 

The  mines  of  Cerrillos,  twenty  miles  southward  of  Santa 
F^,  although  of  undoubted  antiquity,  have,  to  all  appearance, 
been  worked  to  some  extent  within  the  present  century;  indeed, 
they  have  been  reopened  within  the  recollection  of  the  present 
generation ;  but  the  enterprise  having  been  attended  witli 
little  success,  it  was  again  abandoned.  Among  numerous 
pits  still  to  be  seen  at  this  place,  there  is  one  of  immense 

0  In  the  same  vicinity  there  are  some  other  ruins  of  a  similar  character, 
though  less  extensive ;  the  principal  of  which  are  those  of  Abo,  Tagique, 
Chilili.  The  last  of  these  is  now  being  resettled  by  the  Mexicans. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  88 

depth  cut  through  solid  rock,  which,  it  is  believed,  could  not 
have  cost  less  than  $100,000.  In  the  mountains  of  Sandia, 
Abiquiu,  and  mope  particularly  in  those  of  Picuris  and  Em- 
budo,  there  are  also  numerous  excavations  of  considerable 
depth.  A  few  years  ago,  an  enterprising  American  under- 
took to  reopen  one  of  those  near  Picuris ;  but  after  having 
penetrated  to  the  depth  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet,  without 
reaching  the  bottom  of  the  original  excavation,  (which  had 
probably  been  filling  up  for  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years,) 
he  gave  it  up  for  want  of  means.  Other  attempts  have  since 
been  made,  but  with  as  little  success.  Whether  these  fail- 
ures have  been  caused  by  want  of  capital  and  energy,  or 
whether  the  veins  of  ore  were  exhausted  by  the  original 
miners,  remains  for  future  enterprise  to  determine. 

I  should  premise,  before  further  reference  to  authorities, 
that  the  ruins  of  the  three  cities,  so  evidently  built  by  the 
Indians,  under  the  direction  of  the  Spaniards,  or  rather  of 
Spanish  priests,  are  all  met  with  in  the  valley  of  the  Pecos, 
at  no  very  great  distance  apart.  They  are  Abio,  Quarra, 
and  Quivira.  It  is  the  ruins  of  Quarra  which  Major  Abert, 
of  the  United  States  Commission  Survey,  was,  at  the  time  of 
this  report  we  proceed  to  quote,  now  visiting.  He  says : 

I  now  bade  adieu  to  my  generous  entertainers,  and  with 
thousands  of  extravagant  compliments  from  the  kind  people, 
I  set  out  to  overtake  the  party.  After  traveling  southeast 
for  six  miles,  I  reached  the  ancient  village  of  'Quarra.' 
Here  there  is  yet  standing  the  walls  of  a  time-worn  cathe- 
dral ;  it  is  composed  entirely  of  stone — red  sandstone  ;  the 
pieces  are  not  more  than  two  inches  thick.  The  walls  are  two 
feet  wide,  and  the  outer  face  dressed  oft'  to  a  perfectly  plain 
surface.  The  ground-plan  presents  the  form  of  a  cross,  with 
rectangular  projections  in  each  of  the  angles.  The  short 
arm  of  the  cross  is  thirty- three  feet  two  inches  wide  ;  the  long 
arm  is  eighteen  feet  nine  inches  wide  ;  their  axes  are,  respect- 
ively, fifty  feet  and  one  hundred  and  twelve  feet  long,  and  their 
intersection  is  thirty  feet  from  the  head  of  the  cross.  The  rect- 
angular projections,  that  partly  fill  the  angles  formed  by  the 
arms,  are  six  feet  square.  At  the  foot  of  the  cross  are  rectan- 
gular projections,  that  measure  ten  feet  in  the  direction  of  the 
axis,  and  six  feet  in  the  other  direction. 


84  HISTORICAL 

Around  the  church  are  the  less  conspicuous  remains  of 
numerous  houses  that  had  been  "built  of  the  same  material, 
and  the  surfaces  of  the  walls  finished  with  tools ;  but  these 
houses  are  almost  level  with  the  earth,  while  the  walls  of  the 
ancient  church  rise  to  a  hight  of  sixty  feet. 

While  making  my  measurements,  assisted  by  one  of  the 
men  who  had  remained  with  me,  a  Mexican  came  up  to  me 
and  said,  in  the  most  mysterious  way,  '  I  know  something  of 
great  moment,  and  want  to  speak  to  you — to  you  alone  ;  no 
one  must  be  near  ;  come  with  me  to  my  house/  I  went ;  but 
when  we  arrived  there,  we  found  an  old  ruin  fitted  up  with 
such  modern  additions  as  was  necessary  to  render  it  habitable. 
Here  were  several  women.  I  sat  some  time,  talking  of  in- 
different matters,  waiting  anxiously  the  important  secret ; 
but  my  friend  did  not  like  the  presence  of  the  women,  and 
would  not  tell  me  then ;  so  I  got  ready  to  re-commence  my 
journey,  while  he  endeavored,  in  a  thousand  ways  to  detain 
me.  I  asked  him  some  questions  about  the  geography  of  the 
country,  and  about  the  famous  place  called  '  Gran  Quivera.' 
He  told  me  that  it  was  exactly  like  the  buildings  of  Quarra, 
thus  confirming  exactly  what  I  had  learned  at  Manzano. 

I  now  signified  my  determination  to  proceed,  when  this 
man  seemed  extremely  anxious  about  my  going,  and  at  last 
told  me  that  he  would  meet  me  in  a  cedar  grove,  some  dis- 
tance in  my  route.  In  a  little  while  I  re  ached- the  grove, 
and  saw  him  there.  He  then  told  me  that  he  had  discovered 
the  greatest  mine  in  the  country,  where  there  was  an  abun- 
dance of  gold  and  silver.  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  go 
and  get  it?  *  O/  said  he,  'you  can  not  have  been  long  in 
this  country  not  to  know  that  we  poor  people  can  keep 
nothing ;  the  Eicos  would  seize  all,  but  with  your  protection 
I  would  be  secure  in  my  labors.7  Then  he  added,  '  I  '11  give 
you  my  name,  write  it  down,  it  is  Jos£  Lucero,  of  Quarra  ; 
you  can  inquire  in  the  villages  through  which  you  pass,  they 
will  tell  you  that  I  am  honest/  I  took  down  Jose'  Lucero's 
name,  and  proceeded  on  in  my  journey,  so  that  if  any  one 
wishes,  they  can  go  and  seek  the  gold  of  Quarra. 

It  is  the  impression  of  all  intelligent  explorers,  who  have 
seen  any  one  of  the  ruins  mentioned,  that  from  the  geologi- 
cal character  of  the  country  surrounding  them,  their  existence 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  85 

can  only  "be  accounted  for,  upon  the  supposition  that  they  were 
built  for  mining  purposes,  and  thart  since  the  entire  extermi- 
nation of  their  Spanish  tyrants  and  taskmasters  by  the  In- 
dians in  the  first  great  rising  of  1680 — they  have  kept  the 
secret  of  these  mines  concealed  for  the  reasons  given  by 
Gregg,  and  frequently  repeated  by  myself.  The  significant 
question : — "  Why  these  long  aqueducts,  bringing  water  from 
great  distances  to  cities  in  the  midst  of  arid  plains,  when  but 
a  short  distance  south-east,  or  west,  would  have  given  the 
city-builders,  pleasant,  beautiful,  and  well-watered  sites  ?  "-^ 
has  no  other  reasonable  answer  that  I  can  perceive.  The 
ignorant  frontiers-men  and  savages  of  Texas  had  never 
heard  the  names  of  Quarra  or  Quivira.  yet  they  clearly 
pointed  them  out,  in  connection  with  this  very  neighborhood 
of  rich  mines. 

Dr.  Wislizenus,  in  his  report,  says :  Not  far  from  these  sa- 
linas  the  ruins  of  an  old  city  are  found,  the  fabulous  '  la  Gran 
Quivira.'  The  common  report  in  relation  to  this  place  is, 
that  a  very  large  and  wealthy  city  was  once  here  situated, 
with  very  rich  mines,  the  produce  of  which  was  once  or  twice 
a  year  sent  to  Spain.  At  one  season,  when  they  were  making 
extraordinary  preparations  for  the  transporting  the  precious 
metals,  the  Indians  attacked  them,  whereupon  the  miners 
buried  their  treasures,  worth  fifty  millions,  and  left  the  city 
together;  but  they  were  all  killed  except  two,  who  went  to 
Mexico,  giving  the  particulars  of  the  affair  and  soliciting  aid 
to  return.  But  the  distance  being  so  great  and  the  Indians 
so  numerous,  nobody  would  advance,  and  the  thing  was  drop- 
ped. One  of  the  two  went  to  New  Orleans,  then  under  the 
dominion  of  Spain,  raised  five  hundred  men,  and  started  by 
way  of  the  Sabine,  but  was  never  heard  of  afterward.  So 
far  the  report.  Within  the  last  few  years,  several  Americans 
and  Frenchmen  have  visited  the  place ;  and,  although  they 
have  not  found  the  treasure,  they  certify  at  least  to  the  ex- 
istence of  an  aqueduct,  about  ten  miles  in  length,  to  the  still 
standing  walls  of  several  churches,  the  sculptures  of  the 
Spanish  coat  of  arms,  and  to  many  spacious  pits,  supposed  to 
be  silver-mines.  It  was,  no  doubt,  a  Spanish  mining  town, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  it  was  destroyed  in  168.0,  in  the 
general  successful  insurrection  of  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico 
against  the  Spaniards.  Dr.  Samuel  Gr.  Morton,  in  a  late 


86  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

pamphlet,  suggests  the  probability  that  it  was  originally  an 
old  Indian  city,  into  which-  the  Spaniards,  as  in  several  other 
instances,  had  intruded  themselves,  and  subsequently  aban- 
doned it.  Further  investigation,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  clear 
up  this  point. 

Here  are  decidedly  too  many  coincidences  to  be  purely  acci- 
dental and  meaningless !  Prescott  mentions  the  fact  that  the 
quantities  of  gold  found  in  the  possession  of  the  Mexicans 
by  Cortez,  are  by  no  means  accounted  for,  in  the  probable  or 
even  possible  productiveness  of  any  of  the  known  mines  of 
Mexico  at  the  present  day.  How,  then,  is  this  great  wealth 
to  be  accounted  for  ?  We  think  we  have  shown.  It  came, 
mostly,  from  New  Mexico  and  the  mysterious  regions  of  the 
Gila  and  Colorado ;  and  since  this  massacre  of  the  Spaniards 
by  the  first,  and  the  utter  baffling  of  their  search  by  the 
latter,  these  mines  have  been  as  a  sealed  book.  But  it  will 
no  longer  continue  to  be  sealed,  when  American  enterprise 
shall  have  passed  over  these  buried  treasures. 

But  hear  what  is  said  by  yet  other  historians,  of  the  seem- 
ingly incalculable  quantities  of  gold  obtained  by  the  Spanish 
conquest  of  Old  and  New  Mexico,  and  no  reader  can  be  at 
a  loss  to  account  for  the  European  prosperity  and  predominat- 
ing insolence  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  this  period,  any  more 
than  he  will  find  the  insatiable  cravings  of  the  earlier  Jesuit 
missionaries  on  the  north,  a  difficult  riddle  to  solve. 

We  shall  merely  quote  a  single  passage  from  Prescott,  the 
historian  of  the  Conquest,  in  confirmation  of  the  above,  and 
conclude  this  branch  of  our  subject. 

**  In  a  few  weeks  most  of  them  returned,  bringing  back 
large  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  plate,  rich  stuffs,  and  the 
various  commodities  in  which  the  taxes  were  usually  paid. 

To  this  store  Montezuma  added,  on  his  own  account,  the 
treasure  of  Axayacatl,  previously  noticed,  some  parts  of  which 
had  been  already  given  to  the  Spaniards.  It  was  the  fruit 
of  long  and  careful  hoarding — of  extortion,  it  may  be — by  a 
prince  who  little  dreamed  of  its  final  destination.  When 
brought  into  the  quarters,  the  gold  alone  was  sufficient  to 
make  three  heaps.  It  consisted  partly  of  native  grains ; 
part  had  been  melted  into  bars  ;  but  the  greatest  portion  was 
in  utensils,  and  various  kinds  of  ornaments  and  curious  toys, 
together  with  imitations  of  birds,  insects,  or  flowers,  executed 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  87 

with  uncommon  truth  and  delicacy.  There  were,  also,  quan- 
tities of  collars,  bracelets,  wands,  fans,  and  other  trinkets, 
in  which  the  gold  and  feather-work  were  richly  powdered  with 
pearls  and  precious  stones.  Many  of  the  articles  were  even 
more  admirable  for  the  workmanship  than  for  the  value  of 
the  materials ;  such,  indeed — if  we  may  take  the  report  of 
Cortez  to  one  who  would  himself  have  soon  an  opportunity 
to  judge  of  its  veracity,  and  whom  it  would  not  be  safe  to 
trifle  with — as  no  monarch  in  Europe  could  boast  in  his 
dominions ! 

"  Magnificent  as  it  was,  Montezuma  expressed  his  regret 
that  the  treasure  was  no  larger.  But  he  had  diminished  it, 
he  said,  by  his  former  gifts  to  the  white  men.  *  Take  it/ 
he  added,  '  Malinche,  and  let  it  be  recorded  in  your  annals, 
that  Montezuma  sent  this  present  to  your  master.7 " 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Alas  Poor  Mexico  ! — Marquette  and  Joliet — La  Salle — His  pretended  retire- 
ment from  the  Order  of  Jesus — His  Fur  Monopoly — He  Descends  the 
Mississippi  to  its  mouth — His  Death — Remarks — Commencement  of  the 
Second  Intercolonial  War. 

POOR  Mexico!  delivered  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
Catholic  "  Missionary  effort,"  how  hast  thou  thriven?  how 
grown  apace  in  godliness  and  gold — in  temporal  and  spiritual 
prosperity?  Whither  fled  the  god-horn  line  of  Moteuczoma, 
the  far  descended  from  the  imperial  loins  of  the  Child  of  the 
Sun — Acamapitzin  (he  who  has  reeds  in  his  fist),  the  first  king 
of  the  rush-floated  colony  who  had  founded  the  empire  of  Mex- 
ico ?  Whither  vanished  the  splendors  of  that  haughty  line  ? 
where  those  floating  gardens,  concerning  the  boundless  mag- 
nificence and  extent  of  which  Cortez  writes  to  Charles  V,  his 
master,  that  not  all  the  royal  gardens  of  Europe  can  afford  a 
comparison  of  their  grandeur  ?  Where  the  huge  temples  to 
the  God  of  Fire,  with  their  myriad  simple  votaries  to  a  strange 
but  bloody  creed?  their  splendid  festivals  of  flowers,  and 
dance,  and  feast,  which  made  the  round  of  the  abundant  year? 
Where  the  innumerable  cities,  hewn  from  huge  blocks  of 
stone,  or  piled  as  solidly  from  the  imperishable  sun-burnt 
bricks?  Where  the  prodigious  aqueducts  and  endless  cause- 
ways which  far  surpassed  the  glories  of  old  Rome  ?  Where 
the  mighty  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  —  of  priceless  gems 
and  arts  as  priceless?  Where  the  pictured  histories  which, 
preserving  the  ancient  story  of  a  New  World  in  graphic 
forms,  was  the  rightful  property  of  mankind? 

"Where  are  these  archives?"  thunders  "Sam."  "Where 
are  these  treasures?  Where  these  precious  gems  and  more 
precious  arts  ?  Where  the  mighty  "  Ways" — these  fast-built 
88 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  89 

cities  —  these  simple  and  happy  millions,  making  merry 
amid  peaceful  abundance?  Where  the  lost  architecture? 
Where  the  ghosts  of  my  majestic  brothers,  the  Moteuczoma?" 

"  Sent  to  Purgatory,  because  they  have  not  paid  for  masses 
enough  yet  to  buy  their  way  out,"  echoes  a  sepulchral 
answer  from  the  tumbled  ruins  of  fallen,  desolate  and  rav- 
ished empire !  Mexico  is  no  more  ;  she  is  but  a  myth,  a 
fragment  of  the  past ;  she  has  been  "  conserved  "  and  con- 
verted by  the  Catholic  Church !  What  more  can  be  said  ? 
Amen.  But  to  return  to  our  proposed  survey  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  French  Jesuits  toward  the  South,  of  which 
La  Salle  is  the  principal  hero. 

The  Jesuit  Marque tte  had  previously  explored,  in  company 
with  Joliet,  a  French  trader,  through  the  Wisconsin  river, 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
the  Arkansas,  but  were  turned  back  from  that  point  by  the 
reports  of  dangerous  and  hostile  tribes  belovv.  The  discov- 
eries of  Marque  tte  amounted  to  little  more  than  convicting 
the  heretofore  entertained  theory  that  the  Mississippi  dis- 
charged itself  into  the  Chesapeake  Bay  instead  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Among  other  adventurers  who  had  passed  over  to  New 
France  since  its  transfer  to  the  French  West  India  Com- 
pany, was  the  young  La  Salle,  a  native  of  Rouen,  educated 
as  a  Jesuit,  but  who  went  to  Canada  to  seek  his  fortune  by 
discovering  an  over-land  passage  to  China  and  Japan.  After 
giving  proofs  of  sagacious  activity  by  explorations  in  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie,  he  had  returned  to  France,  and  had  ob- 
tained there  from  the  king,  to  whom  Canada  had  reverted 
since  the  recent  dissolution  of  the  West  India  Company,  the 
grant  of  Fort  Frontenac,  a  post  at  the  outlet  of  Ontario,  on 
the  spot  where  Kingston  now  stands,  built  three  years  before 
by  the  Count  de  Frontenac,  who  had  succeeded  at  that  time 
to  the  office  of  Governor-General.  On  condition  of  keeping 
up  that  post,  La  Salle  received  the  grant  of  a  wide  circuit 
of  the  neighboring  country,  and  an  exclusive  right  of  trade 
with  the  Iroquois,  as  a  check  upon  whom  the  fort  had  been 
built.  But  his  ardent  and  restless  disposition  was  not  thus 
to  be  satisfied.  Fired  by  reports  of  the  recently  discovered 
great  river  of  the  West,  while  Virginia  was  distracted  by 
Bacon's  insurrection,  and  New  England  yet  smarting  under 
8* 


90  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  effects  of  Philip's  war,  La  Salle  left  his  fur  trade,  his 
fields,  his  cattle,  his  vessels  and  his  Indian  dependents  at 
Fort  Frontenac,  and,  repairing  to  France  a  second  time, 
obtained  a  royal  commission  for  perfecting  the  discovery  of 
the  Mississippi,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  monopoly  of  the  trade 
in  .buffalo  skins,  which  seemed  likely  to  prove  the  chief  staple 
of  that  region. 

Thus  successful  in  his  mission,  La  Salle  returned  to  Fort 
Frontenac  with  men  and  stores  to  prosecute  his  enterprise, 
accompanied  by  the  Chevalier  Tonti,  an  Italian  soldier,  who 
acted  as  his  lieutenant.  Before  winter,  he  ascended  Lake 
Ontario,  entered  the  Niagara,  and  passing  round  the  falls, 
selected  a  spot  at  the  foot  of  La^e  Erie,  not  far  from  the 
present  site  of  Buffalo,  where  he  commenced  building  the 
"  Griffin/7  a  bark  of  sixty  tons.  This  bark,  in  the  course  of 
the  next  summer,  was  equipped  with  sails  and  cordage 
brought  from  Fort  Frontenac,  and  in  the  autumn,  first  of 
civilized  vessels,  she  plowed  her  way  up  Lake  Erie,  bearing 
La  Salle,  Tonti,  the  Fleming  Hennepin,  and  several  other 
friars  of  the  Recollect  order.  Sixty  sailors,  boatmen,  hunt- 
ers and  soldiers  made  up  the  company.  Having  entered 
Detroit,  "  the  strait "  or  river  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie, 
they  passed  through  it  into  that  limpid  sheet  of  water,  to 
which  La  Salle  gave  the  characteristic  name  of  St.  Glair. 
Hence  they  ascended  by  a  second  strait  into  Lake  Huron, 
and  through  the  length  of  that  great  lake,  by  the  Straits 
of  Mackinaw,  into  Lake  Michigan,  whence  they  passed  into 
Green  Bay,  and,  after  a  voyage  of  twenty  days,  cast  anchor 
at  its  head,  thus  first  tracing  a  passage  now  fast  becoming 
one  of  the  great  highways  of  commerce. 

The  Griffin  was  sent  back  with  a  rich  lading  of  furs, 
under  orders  to  return  with  provisions  and  supplies,  to  be 
conveyed  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  ;  but,  unfortunately, 
she  was  shipwrecked  on  her  homeward  passage.  La  Salle 
and  his  company  proceeded,  meanwhile,  in  birch-bark  canoes, 
up  Lake  Michigan,  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's,  where 
already  there  was  a  Jesuit  mission.  Here  they  built  a  fort 
called  the  Post  of  the  Miamis,  the  name  by  which  the  river 
was  then  known.  La  Salle,  with  most  of  his  people,  pres- 
ently crossed  to  a  branch  of  the  Illinois,  down  which  they 
descended  into  the  main  stream,  on  whose  banks,  below 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  91 

Peoria,  they  built  a  second  fort,  called  Orevecoeur  (Heart- 
break), to  signify  their  disappointment  at  the  non-arrival  of 
the  Griffin,  of  which  nothing  had  yet  been  heard. 

To  hasten  or  replace  the  necessary  supplies,  the  ardent 
and  determined  La  Salle  set  off  on  foot,  with  only  three 
attendants,  and,  following  the  dividing  ridge  which  separates 
the  tributaries  of  the  lakes  from  those  of  the  Ohio,  he  made 
his  way  back  again  to  Fort  Frontenac,  where  he  found  his 
affairs  in  the  greatest  confusion,  himself  reported  dead,  and 
his  property  seized  by  his  creditors.  But,  by  the  Governor's 
aid,  he  made  arrangements  which  enabled  him  to  continue 
the  prosecution  of  his  enterprise. 

During  La  Salle's  absence,  in -obedience  to  orders  previ- 
ously given,  Dacan  and  Hennepin  descended  the  Illinois  to 
the  Mississippi,  and,  turning  northward,  explored  that  river 
as  high  up  as  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  On  their  way  back 
they  entered  the  Wisconsin,  and,  by  the  Fox  river,  passed 
to  Green  Bay;  whence  Hennepin  returned  to  Quebec  and  to 
France,  where  he  wrote  and  published  an  account  of  his 
travels. 

Tonti,  meanwhile,  attacked  by  the  Iroquois,  who  had  made 
a  sudden  onslaught  on  the  Illinois  villages,  fled  also  to  Green 
Bay ;  and,  when  La  Salle  returned  the  next  autumn  with 
recruits  and  supplies,  he  found  Forts  Miami  and  Crevecceur 
deserted.  Having  built  a  new  fort  in  the  country  of  the 
Illinois,  which  he  called  St.  Louis,  with  indefatigable  energy 
he  returned  again  to  Frontenac,  encountering  Tonti  on  his 
way ;  and,  having  collected  a  new  company,  came  back  the 
same  year  to  the  Illinois,  and  during  the  winter  built  and 
rigged  a  small  barge,  in  which,  at  length,  he  descended  to  the 
gulf.  Formal  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  cere- 
moniously taken  for  the  King  of  France.  The  country  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  received  the  name  of  LOUISIANA, 
in  honor  of  Louis  XIV,  then  at  the  hight  of  his  power  and 
reputation ;  but  the  attempt  to  fix  upon  the  river  itself  the 
name  of  Colbert  did  not  succeed. 

Having  made  his  way  back  to  Quebec,  leaving  Tonti  in 
command  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  La  Salle  returned  a  third  time 
to  France,  whither  the  news  of  his  discovery  had  preceded 
him,  and  had  excited  great  expectations.  In  spite  of  repre- 
sentations from  Canada  by  his  enemies,  of  whom  his  harsh 


92  HISTORICAL  AND 

and  overbearing  temper  made  him  many,  he  was  presently 
furnished  with  a  frigate  and  three  other  ships,  on  board  of 
which  embarked  five  priests,  twelve  gentlemen,  fifty  soldiers, 
a  number  of  hired  mechanics,  and  a  small  body  of  volunteer 
agricultural  emigrants,  well  furnished  with  tools  and  pro- 
visions ;  in  all  two  hundred  and  eighty  persons,  designed  to 
plant  a  colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

Informed  of  this  intended  enterprise,  Tonti,  with  twenty 
Canadians  and  thirty  Indians,  descended  from  Fort  St.  Louis 
to  meet  his  old  commander.  But  La  Salle's  vessels  missed 
the  entrance  to  the  Mississippi,  passed  to  the  westward,  and 
after  a  vain  search  for  the  river's  mouth,  landed  their  feeble 
and  dispirited  company  at  some  undetermined  spot  on  the 
coast  of  Texas.  A  fort  was  built  and  named  St.  Louis.  La 
Salle,  with  characteristic  activity,  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding 
the  Mississippi,  penetrated  and  explored  the  surrounding 
country.  No  succors  came  from  France  ;  the  only  vessel  left 
with  the  colonists  was  wrecked ;  victims  to  the  climate,  to 
home-sickness,  and  despair,  they  were  presently  reduced  to 
thirty-six  persons.  In  this  extremity,  La  Salle  set  off  with 
sixteen  men,  determined  to  reach  Canada  by  land  ;  but,  after 
three  months'  wanderings,  he  was  murdered  by  two  mutin- 
ous companions.  The  murderers  were  themselves  murdered ; 
some  of  the  men  joined  the  Indians  ;  finally,  five  of  them 
reached  a  point  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  where  Tonti, 
returning  disappointed  from  the  gulf,  had  established  a  little 
post.  With  the  Indians  nearest  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
Tonti  left  a  letter  to  La  Salle,  which  they  faithfully  pre- 
served for  fourteen  years,  and  delivered  to  the  first  French- 
men who  made  their  appearance. 

The  twenty  men  left  by  La  Salle  at  Fort  St.  Louis 
obscurely  perished,  and  even  the  site  of  the  fort  passed  into 
oblivion.  Yet  France  in  after  times  claimed  the  region  thus 
transiently  occupied  as  a  part  of  Louisiana.  The  same  claim 
was  revived  more  than  a  century  afterward  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  to  which  Louisiana  had  been  transferred  by 
purchase. 

This  is-  Hildreth's  account  of  La  Salle  and  his  career. 
But  it  may  be  as  well  to  specify,  in  commenting  upon  this 
narrative,  that  Bancroft  takes  good  care  to  mention  that  "  La 
Salle  being  of  a  good  family,  he  had  renounced  his  inherit- 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  93 

ance  by  entering  the  seminary  of  the  Jesuits.  After  profit- 
ing by  the  discipline  of  their  schools,  and  obtaining  theit 
praise  for  purity  and  diligence,  he  had  taken  his  discharge 
from  the  fraternity ;  and,  with  no  companions  but  poverty  and 
a  boundless  spirit  of  enterprise,  about  the  year  1667,  when 
the  attention  of  all  France  was  directed  toward  Canada, 
the  young  adventurer  embarked  for  fame  and  fortune  in 
New  France."  Now  any  one,  who  has  carefully  read  our 
exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  organization  of  Loyola's 
Order,  will  understand  how  much  this  "  taken  his  discharge  " 
amounts  to  in  reality.  It  means  nothing  more  than  that  La 
Salle,  at  the  urgency  of  his  own  adventurous  spirit  and 
probable  request,  had  been  transferred  to  some  one  of  the  many 
secret  grades  of  the  Order,  which  included  not  only  women 
and  Knights,  but  men  of  all  ranks  and  occupations ;  he  be- 
came, in  a  word,  one  of  the  "  silent  members,"  who,  released 
from  all  ecclesiastical  functions,  outwardly  constituted  the 
most  formidable  agents  of  the  Order.  No  better  evidence 
of  this  could  be  offered  than  that  his  first  effort  was  to  obtain, 
in  his  own  name,  the  coveted  monopoly  of  the  Fur  Trade, 
which  the  missionaries  proper  have  yet  been  unable  wholly  to 
absorb.  But  who  can  doubt  that  La  Salle  was  virtually  as 
good  a  Jesuit  still — with  that  irrevocable  vow  of  poverty 
upon  his  soul — as  the  saintly  Marquette,  or  any  avowed  dig- 
nitary of  the  Order  ?  La  Salle  still  loved  adventure  much — 
but,  as  in  duty  bound — the  Order  more.  It  must  be  remem* 
bered  that  this  vow  of  poverty,  once  taken,  was  retrospective, 
and  as  well  forever,  prospective,  so  that  little  good  must  his 
Fur  Trade  monopoly  have  ever  done  the  poor  adventurer — so 
soon  as  substantiated,  it  must  have  gone  into  the  hands  of 
the  Order,  whose  agent  in  trust  he  was. 

But  thus  it  has  ever  been  with  those  historical  oracles 
whose  brains  and  sympathies  are  so  magnificently  capacious 
that,  to  be  merely  Protestant,  and  tell  a  straight-forward 
truth  plainly  about  a  Body  so  revered  for  learning  as  this  of  the 
Jesuits,  seems  simply  plebeian  !  Faugh  !  the  contrast  of  the 
cool  manner  in  which  Hildreth  disposes  of  this  question  may 
be  remembered  in  the  quotation  given  above.  But  this  ex- 
ploration of  La  Salle,  though  not  immediately  successful, 
constituted  the  future  basis  of  French  Imperial  claims  and 
Jesuit  encroachments  on  the  South ;  and  we  shall  see  too, 


94  HISTORICAL  AND 

even  so  early  as  during  the  progress  of  the  third  intercolo- 
nial war,  they  began  to  make  themselves  felt  through  their 
savage  allies  in  that  quarter.  Hildreth  thus  relates  the 
opening  of  this  new  war  between  the  bloody  partisans  of 
Jesuitism  and  the  Protestant  colonies  : 

At  the  close  of  the  late  war,  there  had  remained  in  the 
whole  of  Maine  and  Sagadahoc  only  four  inhabited  towns. 
Others  had  been  reoccupied,  and  industry  was  resuming  its 
course,  when  the  breaking  out  of  the  new  war  with  France 
excited  new  apprehensions.  Earnest  efforts  were  made  to 
keep  the  Eastern  Indians  quiet.  Dudley  undertook  a  pro- 
gress as  far  east  as  Pemaquid  to  renew  the  treaties.  But  a 
band  of  unprincipled  colonists  presently  attacked  and  plun- 
dered the  half-breed  son  of  the  Baron  Castin,  who  dwelt  on 
the  Penobscot,  and  had  succeeded  there  to  some  share  of  his 
father's  influence.  In  consequence  of  this  outrage,  before 
long  hostilities  were  renewed.  (1703.) 

The  broken  remnants  of  those  Eastern  tribes,  whose 
vicinity  to  the  English  had  exposed  them  most,  were  collected 
by  the  French,  and  established  in  two  villages,  Becancour 
and  St.  Francis,  on  two  rivers  of  the  same  names,  flowing 
from  the  south  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  Here  they  had  chapels 
and  priests.  Keligious  zeal  and  the  remembrance  of  exile 
inflamed  their  natural  aptitude  for  war.  They  were  always 
ready  for  expeditions  against  the  frontiers  of  New  England, 
against  which,  in  consequence  of  the  truce  with  the  Five 
Nations,  the  whole  force  of  Canada  was  now  directed.  (1704.) 

With  two  hundred  Canadians  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  In- 
dians, Hertelle  de  Eouville,  descending  along  the  Connecticut, 
approached  Deerfield,  then  the  northwestern  frontier  town 
of  New  England.  Like  the  other  frontier  villages,  it  was 
inclosed  by  a  palisade  ;  but  the  sentinels  slept,  and  high 
snow-drifts  piled  against  the  inclosure  made  entrance  easy. 
Why  repeat  a  story  of  monotonous  horrors  ?  The  village 
was  burned ;  forty-seven  of  the  inhabitants  were  slain ;  the 
minister  and  his  family,  with  upward  of  a  hundred  others, 
were  carried  into  captivity.  Dread  and  terror  seized  the  in- 
habitants of  Massachusetts.  The  whole  of  their  extended 
northern  frontier  was  liable  to  similar  attacks.  They  were 
exposed  alone  to  the  whole  brunt  of  the  war.  A  reward  of 
$66  was  offered  for  Indian  prisoners  under  ten  years  of  age, 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  95 

and  twice  as  much  for  older  prisoners,  or  for  scalps — premi- 
ums afterward  variously  modified  and  considerably  increased. 
Thus  stimulated,  the  colonial  rangers  were  soon  able  to  rival, 
and  presently  to  surpass,  the  Indians  in  the  endurance  of 
cold  and  fatigue,  and  to  follow  up  a  trail  with  equal  sagacity, 
ret  so  shy  and  scattered  were  these  lurking  enemies,  and  so 
skilled  in  all  the  arts  of  that  skulking  warfare  which  they 
practiced,  that  each  Indian  scalp  taken  during  this  war  was 
estimated  to  have  cost  the  colony  upward  of  £1000,  $3333. 
The  barbarizing  influence  of  such  a  struggle  was  even  more 
to  be  deprecated  than  its  cost  and  its  miseries.  Some  of  the 
Connecticut  Indians  were  employed  as  auxiliaries,  but  they 
seemed  to  have  lost  their  warlike  spirit. 

The  veteran  Church,  so  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  burning 
of  Deerfield,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  seventy  miles  to 
offer  his  services  to  Governor  Dudley. 

Next  year  the  Indian  ravages  became  more  alarming  than 
ever.  The  very  neighborhood  of  Boston  was  threatened. 
Hertelle  de  Rouville,  again  descended  from  Canada,  this  time 
by  the  valley  of  the  Merrimac,  attacked  Haverhill,  the  fron- 
tier town  on  that  river,  scarcely  yet  recovered  from  the  rav- 
ages of  the  former  war.  Having  piously  prayed  together,  De 
Rouville  and  his  Indians  rushed  i»to  the  town  about  an  hour 
before  sunrise.  The  houses  were  plundered  and  set  on  fire ; 
forty  or  fifty  of  the  inhabitants  were  slain,  some  of  them  per- 
ishing in  the  flames  of  the  houses;  as  many  more,  taken 
prisoners,  were  carried  off  to  Canada.  Hotly  pursued  from 
the  neighboring  towns,  the  assailants  were  obliged  to  fight 
shortly  after  leaving  Haverhill,  yet,  with  the  loss  of  some  of 
their  prisoners,  they  succeeded  in  making  good  their  retreat. 

Alarmed  at  this  new  specimen  of  French  and  Indian  enter- 
prise, the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  called  the  queen's 
attention  to  the  "consuming  war"  in  which  they  had  been 
engaged,  now  little  short  of  twenty  years.  They  begged  her 
commands  to  the  Mohawks  to  fall  upon  the  French,  and  her 
assistance  to  conquer  Canada  and  Acadie. 

Vetch,  a  Boston  merchant,  one  of  the  late  commissioners  to 
Quebec  to  treat  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  who  had  taken 
that  opportunity  to  make  soundings  of  the  channel  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  was  sent  to  England  to  press  this  request.  He 
came  back  with  the  promise  of  a  fleet  and  army,  news  which, 


96  HISTORICAL  AND 

iu  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  traders  of  Albany,  who  car- 
ried on  a  gainful  commerce  with  Canada,  excited  in  New  York 
as  well  as  New  England,  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Ingolsby, 
lieutenant-governor  of  New  York,  took  care  to  keep  the 
Assembly  in  good  humor  "by  resigning  into  their  hands  the 
appointment  of  officers,  and  the  regulation,  by  a  committee, 
of  the  commissary  department.  Five  hundred  men  were 
raised ;  provisions  were  promised  for  the  troops  of  the  other 
colonies  expected  to  co-operate  ;  and  hills  of  credit,  for  the  first 
time  in  New  York,  were  issued  to  pay  the  expense.  To  pro- 
vide means  for  equipping  their  quotas,  Connecticut  and  New 
Jersey,  equally  zealous,  now  also  issued  their  first  paper 
money. 

This  enthusiasm  did  not  extend  to  Pennsylvania.  Called 
upon  by  Governor  G-ookin  to  contribute  a  hundred  and  fifty 
soldiers,  the  Quaker  Legislature  protested,  "  with  all  humili- 
ty/' that  "they  could  not,  in  conscience,  provide  money  to 
hire  men  to  kill  each  other."  Out  of  their  dutiful  attach- 
ment to  the  queen,  in  spite  of  their  scruples,  they  tendered 
her  a  present  of  £500 ;  but  this  pittance  Gookin  refused  to 
accept. 

The  plan  of  campaign  devised  twenty  years  before  by 
Leisler  and  Phipps  was  now  again  revived.  The  four  eastern 
clans  of  the  Iroquois  had  been  persuaded  to  raise  the 
hatchet.  The  quotas  of  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  New 
Jersey,  with  four  independent  companies  of  a  hundred  men 
each,  the  regular  garrison  of  New  York,  amounting  in  the 
whole  to  one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  were  assembled  at 
Wood  Creek,  near  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  for  an  attack 
&n  Montreal.  The  command  of  these  troops  was  given  by  the 
contributing  Assemblies  to  Nicholson,  bred  an  army  officer, 
an  old  official,  a  man  of  very  active  disposition,  whom  we  have 
seen  successively  governor  of  New  York,  of  Maryland,  and  of 
Virginia,  and  whose  former  zeal  in  urging  a  grant  by  Vir 
ginia  for  the  defense  of  New  York  was  now  gratefully  re- 
membered. 

Another  army  of  twelve  hundred  men,  the  quotas  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, New  Hampshire,  and  Ehode  Island,  destined  to 
operate  against  Quebec,  anxiously  awaited  at  Boston  the 
arrival  of  the  promised  British  fleet.  But  new  disasters  in 
Spain  again  diverted  this  expected  aid ;  and  all  these  expen- 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.        97 

give  preparations,  by  far  the  greatest  yet  made  in  the  British 
colonies,  fell  fruitless  to  the  ground. 

The  governors  of  the  colonies  concerned  in  this  enterprise, 
met  at  B  )ston,  and  Nicholson  and  Vetch  carried  to  England 
their  solicitations  and  complaints.  Schuyler,  of  Albany,  who 
exercised  a  great  influence  over  the  Mohawks,  imitated  the 
p  licy  of  the  governor  of  Canada,  by  taking  with  him  to  Eng- 
land five  Mohawk  warriors.  Tricked  out  in  scarlet  cloaks, 
borrowed  from  the  wardrobe  of  a  London  theater,  these  sav- 
ages attracted  a  large  share  of  public  attention.  The 
"Tatler"  and  "  Spectator,"  then  in  the  course  of  publication, 
make  several  allusions  to  them. 

Nicholson  and  Vetch  returned  the  next  summer  with  two 
ships  of  war  and  five  hundred  marines.  Connecticut  and 
New  Hampshire  each  raised  a  regiment ;  two  regiments  were 
contributed  by  Massachusetts  ;  and  Nicholson  and  Vetch,  with 
twenty  New  England  transports,  sailed  to  attack  Port  Royal. 
The  French  garrison,  feeble  and  mutinous,  surrendered  as 
soon  as  the  siege  was  formed.  By  the  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion, the  inhabitants  within  a  circuit  of  three  miles,  upon 
taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  England,  were  to  be  protected 
for  two  years,  and  were  to  have  that  period  to  dispose  of  their 
property.  The  miserable  inhabitants  of  the  other  districts 
in  vain  solicited  the  same  terms.  They  were  treated  as  pris- 
oners at  discretion;  their  property  was  plundered;  it  was 
even  proposed  to  drive  them  from  their  homes,  "  unless  they 
would  turn  Protestants."  A  message  was  sent  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  Canada,  that  if  he  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  Indian 
parties  against  the  frontiers  of  New  England,  any  cruelties 
which  they  might  inflict,  should  be  retorted  on  the  unhappy 
Acadian s.  Such  conduct  was  little  calculated  to  secure  quiet 
possession  of  the  province  ;  and  Vetch,  left  at  Port  Royal  with 
four  hundred  men,  soon  found  himself  invested  by  the  Aca- 
dians  and  the  Indians. 

Aid  from  England  having  been  solicited  by  the  colonies  in 
this  war,  that  which  the  Whigs  consistently  refused,  had  been, 
to  the  sudden  surprise  of  the  petitioners,  granted  by  the  new 
Tory  administration.  A  large  fleet  and  army  was  dispatched 
against  Canada,  under  the  command  of  General  Hill  and 
Sir  Hovenden  Walker.  Hildreth  says: 


98  HISTORICAL  AND 

Within  a  fortnight  after  Nicholson  had  given  the  first 
notice  of  what  was  intended,  a  fleet  of  fifteen  ships  of  war, 
with  forty  transports,  bringing  five  veteran  regiments  of 
Marlborough's  army,  arrived  at  Boston.  Here  they  were 
detained  upward  of  a  month,  waiting  for  provisions  and  the 
colonial  auxiliaries.  The  want  of  notice  caused  some  inevi- 
table delay;  but  the  northern  colonies  exerted  themselves 
with  remarkable  promptitude  and  vigor.  The  credit  of 
the  English  treasury,  broken  down  by  a  long  and  expensive 
war,  was  so  low  at  Boston,  that  nobody  would  purchase  bills 
upon  it  without  an  indorsement,  which  Massachusetts  fur- 
nished in  the  shape  of  bills  of  credit  to  the  amount  of 
.£40,000,  advanced  to  the  merchants  who  supplied  provisions 
to  the  fleet.  After  a  delay,  of  which  the  officers  loudly  com- 
plained, the  ships  sailed  at  last  with  seven  thousand  men  on 
board,  half  regulars  and  half  provincials. 

New  York  issued  .£10,000  in  bills  of  credit  to  pay  the 
expense  of  her  share  of  the  enterprise,  taking  care,  however, 
to  deposit  the  money  in  the  hands  of  special  commissioners. 
Pennsylvania,  under  the  name  of  a  present  to  the  queen, 
contributed  ,£2,000,  but  none  of  the  colonies  further  south 
seemed  to  have  taken  any  interest  in  the  matter.  Some 
fifteen  hundred  troops,  the  quotas  of  Connecticut,  New  York, 
and  New  Jersey,  again  placed  under  the  command  of  Nichol- 
son, assembled  at  Albany,  for  an  attack  on  Montreal  simul- 
taneously with  that  on  Quebec,  and  Nicholson's  camp  was 
presently  joined  by  eight  hundred  warriors  of  the  Five  Na- 
tions. But  the  advance  was  cut  short  by  news  of  the  failure 
of  the  expedition  by  sea. 

As  the  fleet  was  proceeding  up  the  St.  Lawrence  during 
a  dark  and  stormy  night,  through  the  obstinacy  and  negli- 
gence of  Admiral  Walker,  eight  transports  were  wrecked, 
and  near  a  thousand  men  perished.  Discouraged  at  this 
disaster,  the  Admiral  turned  about,  and,  sending  home  the 
colonial  transports,  sailed  direct  for  England,  not  even  stop- 
ping by  the  way,  as  his  instructions  had  indicated,  to  attack 
the  French  posts  in  Newfoundland.  The  British  officers  con- 
cerned in  the  expedition,  attempted  to  shift  off  on  the.  col- 
onists the  blame  of  this  failure.  They  alleged  *  the  interest- 
edness,  the  ill-nature,  and  sourness  of  these  people,  whose 
hypocrisy  and  canting  are  insupportable.'  The  indignant 


KEVOLUTIOXAKY  INCIDENTS.  99 

colonists,  suspicious  of  the  Tory  ministry,  believed  that  the 
whole  enterprise  was  a  scheme  meant  to  fail,  and  specially 
designed  for  their  disgrace  and  impoverishment.  Harley, 
having  quarreled  with  his  colleagues,  denounced  it  to  the 
House  of  Commons  as  a  job  intended  to  put  £20,000  into 
the  pockets  of  St.  John  and  Harcourt.  Nowhere  was  the 
failure  of  this  enterprise  more  felt  than  in  New  York.  A 
war  with  the  Five  Nations  was  even  apprehended.  That 
confederacy  showed  a  strong  disposition  to  go  over  to  the 
French." 

That  "the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  faith  " 
worked  well  now.  The  Jesuits  had  at  last  obtained  a  hold 
upon  the  nations  composing  the  League  of  the  Iroquois, 
which  had,  as  yet,  proved  the  sole  protectors  of  the  early 
colonists  on  the  lakes.  There  was  an  incidental  war  with 
the  Tuscaroras  in  the  meantime,  against  the  German  emi- 
grants of  North  Carolina  principally.  Hear  Hildreth's 
account : 

The  expedition  against  Norridgewock,  which  the  Gover- 
nor had  delayed,  but  afterward,  on  the  remonstrance  of  the 
court,  had  sent  forward,  was  not  successful  in  seizing  Rasles ; 
but  his  papers,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  assailants, 
who  pillaged  the  church  and  the  missionary's  house,  strength- 
ened suspicions  that  the  Indians  were  encouraged  by  Cana- 
dian support.  The  Indians  retorted  the  attack  on  Norridge- 
wock by  burning  Brunswick,  a  new  village  recently  established 
on  the  Androscoggin.  The  tribes  of  Nova  Scotia,  also,  joined 
in  the  war.  At  the  Gut  of  Canso  they  seized  seventeen  fish- 
ing vessels  belonging  to  Massachusetts,  several  of  which, 
however,  were  presently  recovered,  with  severe  loss  to  the 
Indian  captors. 

When  the  General  Court  came  together,  new  disputes 
arose  between  the  governor  and  the  House  as  to  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  of  which  the  representatives  sought  to  engross 
the  entire  management.  Disgusted  by  the  opposition  of  an 
Assembly  "  more  fit,"  as  he  thought,  "  for  the  affairs  of  farm- 
ing than  for  the  duty  of  legislators/7  Shute  had  secretly 
obtained  leave  to  return  home;  and,  without  giving  any 
intimation  of  his  purposes,  he  suddenly  left  the  province. 
The  administration,  by  his  departure,  passed  into  the  hands 


100  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  Dumraer,  the  lieutenant-governor,  who  remained  at  the 
head  of  affairs  for  the  next  six  years. 

The  General  Court  soon  accommodated  with  Duminer  the 
quarrel  which  Sliute  had  left  on  his  hands.  He  yielded  to 
some  of  their  demands,  and  they  ahandoned  others.  The 
Indian  war  proved  expensive  and  annoying,  and  large  issues 
of  paper  money  became  necessary  to  carry  it  on. 

Connecticut,  applied  to  for  aid  against  the  Indians,  pro- 
fessed scruples  as  to  the  justice  of  the  war,  and  begged 
Massachusetts  to  take  care  lest  innocent  blood  were  shed. 
These  scruples  were  presently  quieted,  and  Connecticut  fur- 
nished the  quota  asked  for.  Attempts  repeatedly  made  to 
engage  the  assistance  of  the  Mohawks  were  less  successful. 
They  not  only  refused  to  take  up  the  hatchet,  but,  what  was 
still  more  unpalatable,  they  advised  Massachusetts,  as  a  sure 
means  of  peace,  to  restore  the  Indian  lands  and  prisoners. 

The  attacks  of  the  Indians  extended  along  the  whole 
northern  frontier  as  far  west  as  Connecticut  river.  To  cover 
the  towns  in  that  valley,  Fort  Dummer  was  presently  erected, 
on  the  site  of  what  is  now  BrattleborougJi,  the  oldest  English 
settlement  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  Vermont. 

Having  seized  an  armed  schooner  in  one  of  the  eastern 
harbors,  a  party  of  Indians  cruised  along  the  coast,  and 
captured  no  less  than  seven  vessels.  It  was  deemed  neces- 
sary to  strike  some  decisive  blow.  Norridgewcck  was  sur- 
prised by  a  second  expedition ;  Easles  was  slain,  with  some 
thirty  of  his  Indian  disciples ;  the  sacred  vessels  and  "  the 
adorable  body  of  Jesus  Christ "  were  scoffingly  profaned  ; 
the  chapel  was  pillaged  and  burned,  and  the  village  broken 
up. 

The  premium  on  scalps  was  raised  to  ^£100,  payable,  how- 
ever, in  the  depreciated  currency.  Love  we  11,  a  noted  partisan, 
surprised,  near  the  head  of  Salmon  Falls  river,  ten  Indians 
asleep  round  a  fire.  He  killed  them  all,  and  marched  in 
triumph  to  Dover,  with  their  scalps  hooped  and  elevated  on 
poles.  In  a  second  expedition  he  was  less  successful.  Neai 
the  head  of  the  Saco,  on  the  margin  of  a  pond,  he  fell  into 
an  Indian  ambush,  and  was  slain  at  the  first  fire,  with  eight 
of  his  men.  The  rest  defended  themselves  bravely  through 
a  whole  day's  fight,  repulsed  the  Indians,  and  made  good 
their  retreat. 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  101 

Embassadors,  meanwhile,  were  sent  to  Canada  to  remon- 
strate against  the  countenance  given  there  to  the  hostile  In- 
dians ;  and  an  application  was  made  to  the  king,  to  compel 
the  neighboring  colonies  and  the  Mohawks  to  join  in  the  war. 
The  Board  of  Trade  inclined  to  favor  this  request ;  but,  already, 
the  Penobscots  had  proposed  a  peace,  which  the  colonists 
were  very  glad  to  accept ;  and  the  Norridgewocks  presently 
came  into  it.  Judicious  measures  were  taken  to  protect  the 
Indians  against  the  extortion  and  villainy  of  private  traders, 
by  the  establishment  of  public  trading-houses  to  supply  them 
with  goods  at  cost.  By  this  means,  peace  was  preserved  for 
many  years,  and  the  settlements  in  Maine  and  New  Hamp- 
shire extended  without  interruption. 

The  complicated  designs  of  the  French  Jesuits  assume  an 
aspect  of  mystery  and  entanglement,  which  it  does  not  com- 
port with  our  present  purpose  to  unravel.  We  will  let  the 
plain  historic  character  of  the  period  tell  for  itself  in  the 
language  of  Hildreth.  He  says : 

Though  the  progress  of  New  France,  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  British  colonies,  was  but  slow  and  inconsiderable, 
the  French  still  entertained  the  grand  project  of  appropriating 
the  whole  of  that  vast  western  valley  from  the  great  lakes 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Iroquois  were  no  longer  hostile  ; 
and,  if  the  missionary  spirit  was  dying  out,  it  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  a  mercantile  spirit  hardly  less  energetic  and  deter- 
mined. The  French  fur  traders  ranged  the  whole  west ;  the 
Foxes,  the  only  hostile  tribe  on  the  upper  lakes,  had  been 
chastised  and  driven  from  Green  Bay.  By  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht,  the  traffic  with  the  western  Indians  was  equally 
open  to  the  English  traders  ;  but  it  still  remained,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  constituting,  indeed, 
almost  the  sole  resource  of  Canada.  The  lands  along  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  had  been  granted  in  seigniories, 
much  like  the  patroonships  of  New  Netherland.  The  ten- 
ants who  cultivated  them,  known  as  habitans,  produced  little 
more  than  was  necessary  for  the  local  consumption.  They 
were  often,  however,  better  off  than  the  seigneurs,  or  feudal 
lords,  whose  rents  and  feudal  rights  amounted  to  little. 
They  looked  chiefly  to  public  offices  or  commissions  in  the 
army  and  navy  as  a  means  of  support,  and  to  them,  there- 
fore, peace  was  always  distasteful.  By  an  edict  of  Louis  XIV, 
9* 


102  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  nobles  of  Canada  had  been  authorized  to  engage  in  com- 
merce  without  any  prejudice  to  their  nobility.  The  fur  trade, 
however,  was  principally  in  the  hands  of  the  bourgeoisie  of 
Quebec  and  Montreal.  The  attempts  to  establish  fisheries  on 
the  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence  had  failed.  Of  the  vessels 
that  took  cargoes  to  New  France,  some  carried  coal  from 
Cape  Breton  to  Martinique,  to  be  used  in  boiling  sugar ;  others 
bought  fish  in  Newfoundland  ;  but  many  returned  in  ballast. 
Notwithstanding  objections  in  France,  leave  had  been  granted 
to  establish  linen  manufactures  in  Canada,  and  coarse  linens 
were  now  produced  sufficient  for  the  local  demand.  (1728.) 

The  administration  of  Canadian  affairs  was  vested  in  the 
governor-general,  the  intendant,  and  a  supreme  council.  The 
bishop  named  all  the  curates.  The  custom  of  Paris,  the  law 
of  New  France,  under  the  conservative  hands  of  the  English, 
has  preserved,  like  the  Roman-Dutch  code  in  British  Guiana, 
authority  in  America  long  after  having  lost  it  in  Europe. 
The  population  of  Canada  numbered  at  this  time  about  thirty 
thousand.  Quebec  was  a  city  of  five  thousand  inhabitants. 
Many  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  government  were  es- 
tablished there,  and  it  could  boast,  in  consequence,  a  more 
agreeable  society  than  any  other  American  town. 

The  "  Creoles  of  Canada,"  natives,  that  is,  of  European 
descent,  are  described  by  Charlevoix  as  "  well  made,  large, 
strong,  robust,  vigorous,  enterprising,  brave  and  indefatigable, 
but  unpolished,  presumptuous,  self-reliant,  esteeming  them- 
selves above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  somewhat  lack- 
ing in  filial  veneration  " — a  portrait,  not  of  the  Canadian 
Creoles  merely,  but  of  the  whole  Creole-American  race.  The 
Canadians,  true  to  their  French  origin,  though  inferior  in 
industry,  and  much  less  wealthy,  understood  better  than  the 
Anglo-Americans  the  art  of  making  themselves  happy. 

In  Louisiana  the  French  had  secured  the  friendship  of  the 
Choctaws,  a  numerous  confederacy  inhabiting  the  region  from 
the  Lower  Mississippi  eastward  to  the  Alabama,  where  they 
bordered  on  the  Creeks.  (1728.)  Surrounded  by  the  Choc- 
taws,  and  dwelling  mostly  in  a  single  village  in  the  close 
vicinity  of  Fort  Rosalie,  where  the  Natchez,  limited  in  num- 
bers and  extent  of  territory,  but  remarkable  for  a  peculiar 
language  and  their  singular  religious  and  social  institutions, 
which  resembled,  in  several  points,  those  of  the  Peruvians  of 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  103 

South  America.  Like  the  Peruvians,  they  worshiped  the 
sun,  from  whom,  also,  their  great  chief  claimed  to  be  de- 
scended. In  the  great  wigwam  dedicated  to  their  god,  an 
undying  fire  was  kept  burning.  Beside  their  principal  chief, 
the  "  Great  Sun,"  object  of  their  highest  reverence,  there 
was  a  race  of  inferior  chiefs  or  "  suns,"  quite  distinct  from 
the  common  people.  The  hierarchical  system  was  complete ; 
but  the  small  number  of  the  Natchez  did  not  allow  of  any 
of  those  striking  results  of  combined  labor,  extorted  by  re- 
ligious reverence,  so  remarkable  among  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians.  The  Natchez  hardly  differed-  in  externals  from 
the  other  tribes  about  them. 

Alarmed  at  ths  encroachments  of  the  French  at  Fort  Ros- 
alie, by  whom  their  very  village  was  demanded  as  a  site  for 
plantations,  the  Natchez  presently  began  to  grow  hostile — a 
feeling  stimulated  by  the  Chickasaws,  who  dwelt  northwardly 
up  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  toward  the  mouth  of  tha 
Ohio,  and  whose  country  extended  eastward  to  the  lands  of 
the  Cherokees. 

Thus  encouraged,  the  Natchez  fell  unexpectedly  on  the 
French  settlement  at  Fort  Rosalie,  massacred  the  men  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred,  and  made  the  women  and  children 
prisoners.  (Nov.  1729.)  The  negro  slaves  were  not  harmed, 
and  they  presently  joined  the  Indians.  The  settlers  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  Orleans  amounted,  by  this  time,  to  near  six 
thousand.  But  a  third  of  that  number  were  slaves,  and 
dread  of  insurrection  added  to  the  terrors  of  Indian  war. 

While  the  people  of  New  Orleans  mustered  their  forces 
and  fortified  the  city,  Le  Sueur,  with  a  body  of  seven  hundred 
Choctaw  warriors,  surprised  the  Natchez  feasting  over  their 
victory,  and  liberated  a  part  of  the  prisoners.  Forces  which 
presently  arrived  from  New  Orleans  completed  the  success. 
Some  of  the  discomfited  Natchez  fled  to  the  Chickasaws, 
others  crossed  the  Mississippi.  But  they  were  pursued,  and 
only  a  few  made  good  their  escape.  The  great  chief  and 
four  hundred  others,  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  French, 
were  sent  to  St.  Domingo  and  s  >ld  as  slaves.  (Jan.  Feb. 
1730.) 

The  English  government,  anxious  to  confirm  their  influ- 
ence over  the  Cherokees,  sent  Sir  Alexander  Gumming  to 
Carolina,  specially  authorized  to  renew  the  treaties  with  that 


104  HISTORICAL  AND 

powerful  confederacy.  Gumming  held  several  councils  in  the 
Cherokee  country ;  and  seven  of  the  principal  chiefs  vrere 
persuaded  to  accompany  him  to  England  on  a  visit  to  their 
"  great  father,"  the  king.  These  chiefs  signed  a  treaty  with 
the  Board  of  Trade,  by  which  they  promised  the  return  of 
all  runaway  slaves,  and  were  made  to  acknowledge  them- 
selves the  subjects  of  Great  Britain.  Hence,  in  the  subse- 
quent controversy  with  the  French,  a  pretense  on  the  part 
of  Great  Britain,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Six  Nations,  to  sove- 
reignty all  over  the  Cherokee  territory. 

While  these  events  transpired  at  the  south,  the  Canadian 
authorities  excited  apprehensions,  by  sending  a  party  from 
Montreal  up  Lake  Champlain,  to  occupy  Crown  Point,  within 
a  hundred  miles  of  Albany.  The  Assembly  of  New  York 
resolved  that  "  this  encroachment,  if  not  prevented,"  would 
prove  of  "  we  most  pernicious  consequence  to  this  and  other 
colonies ;"  and  they  sent  notice  to  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  applied  to  England  for  aid.  Massa- 
chusetts entered  warmly  into  their  feelings.  The  Board  of 
Trade  supported  their  complaints ;  but  the  judicious  policy  of 
Walpole  was  peace.  The  experience  of  the  last  two  wars, 
which  had  saddled  England,  to  so  little  purpose,  with  a  debt 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  was  not  yet  for- 
gotten, and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  New  York  and 
New  England,  the  French  were  allowed  quietly  to  occupy  the 
shores  of  a  lake,  which,  more  than  a  century  previous,  they 
had  been  the  first  to  explore. 

Only  at  this  single  point,  did  the  French  yet  approach  the 
settlements  of  the  English.  There  was  a  short  and  easy 
communication  from  Lake  Erie  with  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Ohio ;  but  no  attempt  was  made  by  the  French  to  occupy 
those  waters,  of  which,  indeed,  they  seem  as  yet  to  have 
known  but  little.  The  communication  between  Canada  and 
Louisiana  was  carried  on  by  the  distant  routes  of  Green  Bay 
and  the  Wisconsin,  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Illinois,  and, 
presently,  by  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash,  which  latter 
river  was  regarded  by  the  French  as  the  main  stream,  to 
which  the  Ohio  was  but  a  tributary.  Low  down  the  Wabash 
the  post  of  St.  Vincent's  was  presently  established.  The 
Blue  .Ridge  bounded  as  yet  the  back  settlements  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia.  Unknown  mountains  and  unthreaded 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  105 

forests  separated,  for  a  few  years  longer,  the  rival  claimants 
of  a  continent. 

Yet  already  the  communication  between  Canada  arid  Lou- 
isiana was  exposed  to  obstructions.  English  traders  from 
Carolina,  penetrating  through  the  country  of  the  Cherokees, 
reached  the  distant  Chickasaws,  by  whom,  as  enemies  of  the 
French,  they  were  kindly  received.  These  traders,  in  their 
turn,  stimulated  the  hostility  of  the  Chickasaws,  whose 
canoes,  filled  with  warriors,  attacked  the  French  boats  navi- 
gating backward  and  forward  from  the  Illinois  to  New 
Orleans.  The  Chickasaws  even  attempted,  in  conjunction 
with  the  English  traders,  to  detach  the  tribes  of  the  north- 
west from  the  French  interest. 

Puritan  courage  and  enterprise  seem  to  have  been  every- 
where sufficient  for  the  heading  and  counterbalancing  all 
that  corpse-like  submission  and  fanaticism  of  the  Jesuit 
could  achieve.  Protestantism  had  managed  to  make  good 
friends  in  advance,  as  we  have  seen,  of  the  Cherokees  and 
Chickasaws,  and  opposed  this  alliance  as  a  barrier  upon  the 
south  nearly  equal,  in  efficiency,  to  that  of  the  Iroquois  on 
the  north.  But  hear  further  the  narrative  of  the  historian, 
upon  whose  careful  labors  the  biographer  of  "  Sam "  has 
found  that  no  one  at  this  day  can  so  far  improve  upon.  He 
continues: 

The  Mississippi  Company,  utterly  disappointed  in  its 
expectations  of  profit,  and  alarmed  at  the  expense  of  the 
war  with  the  Natchez,  resigned  Louisiana  to  the  crown,  and 
the  Canadian  Bienville,  who  had  shared  the  fatigues  and 
anxieties  of  the  first  settlement,  was  again  commissioned  as 
royal  Governor  ;  but  the  system  of  administration  remained 
in  most  respects  as  before.  The  hostility  of  the  Chickasaws 
seeming  to  threaten,  in  the  south-west,  an  obstacle  to  the 
French  dominion  similar  to  that  which  the  Iroquois  had  for- 
merly presented  to  the  north,  it  was  resolved  to  attempt  the 
conquest  of  that  haughty  nation,  by  a  simultaneous  attack 
from  opposite  directions. 

Proceeding  from  New  Orleans  to  Mobile  with  a  fleet  of 
sixty  boats  and  canoes,  Bienville  ascended  the  Tombigbee  to 
a  fort  or  trading-house,  lately  established,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  up  that  river.  There  he  was  joined  by  twelve 
hundred  Choctaws.  The  combined  force  having  paddled  up 


106  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

the  Tombigbee  to  the  head  of  navigation,  marched  from  the 
landing  now  known  as  Cotton  Gin  Port  against  a  stronghold 
of  the  Chickasaws,  situated  about  twenty  miles  west  of  it. 
Aware,  however,  of  the  approach  of  their  enemies,  and  en- 
couraged by  some  English  traders,  the  Chickasaws  repulsed 
the  attack,  and  compelled  the  French  and  their  allies  to  an 
nglorious  retreat. 

D'Artaguette,  who  simultaneously  descended  from  the 
Illinois  with  fifty  Frenchmen  and  a  thousand  Indians,  had 
been  still  more  unlucky.  Not  hearing  anything  of  the 
other  expedition,  he  too  had  ventured  a  separate  attack  on  a 
more  northerly  fort  of  the  Chickasaws,  in  which  he  fell, 
severely  wounded.  His  forces  were  repulsed  and  hotly  pur- 
sued. Himself  and  several  others,  taken  prisoners,  were 
burned  at  the  stake.  In  consequence,  no  doubt,  of  the 
expense  of  this  war,  the  "card  money"  system  which  pre- 
vailed in  Canada  was  introduced  in  Louisiana  also. 

Three  years  after,  the  whole  strength  of  New  France  was 
again  exerted  for  the  conquest  of  the  Chickasaws.  At  a 
post  established  within  their  country,  at  that  bluff  on  the 
Mississippi  now  the  site  of  the  city  of  Memphis,  twelve 
hundred  French  soldiers  were  assembled,  with  twice  as  many 
Indians  and  negroes.  But  the  ranks  were  soon  thinned  by 
sickness,  and  the  French  were  glad  to  purchase  peace  by 
withdrawing  their  forces,  leaving  the  Chickasaws  still  inde- 
pendent and  indomitable. 

The  process  for  vacating  the  charter  of  Carolina  had  been 
delayed  by  the  privilege  of  peerage,  enjoyed  by  several  of 
the  proprietaries.  To  bring  this  to  a  conclusion,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  buy  the  province,  and  the  bargain  for  that  purpose 
was  presently  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament.  Seven  of  the 
eight  proprietaries  relinquished  to  the  crown  all  their  interest 
for  the  sum  of  <£17,500,  to  which  were  added  <£5000  more 
for  arrears  of  quit-rents,  claimed  to  the  amount  of  <£9000. 
Lord  Carteret,  the  eighth  proprietor,  surrendered  his  rights 
of  jurisdiction,  but  chose  to  retain  his  interest  in  the  soil, 
his  share  of  which,  in  the  territory  north  of  the  Savannah, 
was  specially  set  off  to  him  next  to  the  Virginia  line,  which 
had  been  lately  run,  and  marked  as  far  westward  as  the 
Blue  Kidge. 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  107 

Louisburg,  on  which  the  French  had  spent  much  money, 
was  by  far  the  strongest  fort  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
But  the  prisoners  of  Canso,  carried  thither,  and  afterward 
dismissed  on  parole,  reported  the  garrison  to  be  weak,  and 
the  works  out  of  repair.  So  long  as  the  French  held  this 
fortress,  it  was  sure  to  be  a  source  of  annoyance  to  New  Eng- 
land, but  to  wait  for  British  aid  to  capture  it  would,  be  tedious 
and  uncertain,  public  attention  in  Great  Britain  being  much 
engrossed  by  a  threatened  invasion.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, Shirley  proposed  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts the  bold  enterprise  of  a  colonial  expedition,  of  which 
Louisburg  should  be  the  object.  After  six  days'  deliberation 
and  two  additional  messages  from  the  governor,  this  proposal 
was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  one  vote.  A  circular  letter, 
asking  aid  and  co-operation,  was  sent  to  all  the  colonies  as  far 
south  as  Pennsylvania.  In  answer  to  this  application,  urged 
by  a  special  messenger  from  Massachusetts,  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Assembly,  still  engaged  in  a  warm  controversy  with 
Governor  Thomas,  voted  £4:000  of  their  currency  to  purchase 
provisions.  The  New  Jersey  Assembly,  engaged,  like  that 
of  Pennsylvania,  in  a  violent  quarrel  with  their  governor,  had 
refused  to  organize  the  militia  or  to  vote  supplies,  unless  Mor- 
ris would  first  consent  to  all  their  measures,  including  a  new 
issue  of  paper  money.  They  furnished,  however,  £2000 
toward  the  Louisburg  expedition,  but  declined  to  raise  any 
men.  The  New  York  Assembly,  after  a  long  debate,  voted 
£3000  of  their  currency ;  but  this  seemed  to  Clinton  a  nig- 
gardly grant,  and  he  sent,  beside,  a  quantity  of  provisions 
.purchased  by  private  subscription,  and  ten  eighteen-pounders 
from  the  King's  magazine.  Connecticut  voted  five  hundred 
men,  led*  by  Roger  Wolcott,  afterward  governor,  and  appoint- 
ed, by  stipulation  of  the  Connecticut  Assembly,  second  in 
command  of  the  expedition.  Rhode  Island  and  New  Hamp- 
shire each  raised  a  regiment  of  three  hundred  men;  but  the 
Rhode  Island  troops  did  not  arrive  till  after  Louisburg  was 
taken.  The  chief  burden  of  the  enterprise,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  fell  on  Massacbusetts.  In  seven  weeks  an  army  of 
three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  was  enlisted,  trans- 
ports were  pressed,  and  bills  of  credit  were  profusely  issued 
to  pay  the  expense.  Ten  armed  vessels  were  provided  by 
Massachusetts,  and  one  by  each  of  the  other  New  England 


108  HlSTOEICAL   AND 

colonies.  The  command  in  chief  was  given  to  William  Fep- 
perill,  a  native  of  Maine,  a  wealthy  merchant,  who  had  inher- 
ited and  augmented  a  large  fortune  acquired  by  his  father  in 
the  fisheries;  a  popular,  enterprising,  sagacious  man,  noted 
for  his  universal  good  fortune,  but  unacquainted  with  military 
affairs,  except  as  a  militia  officer.  Whittield,  then  preaching 
on  his  third  tour  throughout  the  colonies,  gave  his  influence 
in  favor  of  the  expedition  by  suggesting,  as  a  motto  for  thi 
flag  of  the  New  Hampshire  regiment,  "  Nil  desperandum 
Christo  duce" — "Nothing  is  to  be  despaired  of  with  Ciirist 
for  a  leader."  The  enterprise,  under  such  auspices,  assumed 
something  of  the  character  of  an  anti-Catholic  crusade.  One 
of  the  chaplains,  a  disciple  of  Whitfield,  carried  a  hatchet, 
specially  provided  to  hew  down  the  images  in  the  French 
churches. 

Eleven  days  after  embarking  at  Boston,  the  Massachusetts 
armament  assembled  at  Casco,  to  wait  there  the  arrival  of 
the  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  quotas,  and  the  melting 
of  the  ice  by  which  Cape  Breton  was  environed.  The  New 
Hampshire  troops  were  already  there ;  those  from  Connecti- 
cut came  a  few  days  after.  Notice  having  been  sent  to  Eng- 
land and  the  West  Indies  of  the  intended  expedition,  Captain 
Warren  presently  arrived  with  four  ships  of  war,  and,  cruising 
before  Louisburg,  captured  several  vessels  bound  thither  with 
supplies.  Already,  before  his  arrival,  the  New  England 
cruisers  had  prevented  the  entry  of  a  French  thirty-gun  ship. 
As  soon  as  the  ice  permitted,  the  troops  landed  and  com- 
menced the  siege,  but  not  with  much  skill,  for  they  had  no 
engineers.  The  artillery  was  commanded  by  Gridley,  who 
served  thirty  years  after  in  the  same  capacity  in  the  first 
Massachusetts  revolutionary  army.  Cannon  and  provisions 
had  to  be  drawn  on  sledges,  by  human  strength,  over  morasses 
and  rocky  hills.  Five  unsuccessful  attacks  were  made,  one 
after  another,  upon  an  island  battery  which  protected  the 
harbor.  In  that  cold,  foggy  climate,  the  troops,  very  imper- 
fectly provided  with  tents,  suffered  severely  from  sickness, 
and  more  than  a  third  were  unfit  for  duty.  But  the  French 
garrison  was  feeble  and  mutinous,  and  when  the  commander 
found  that  his  supplies  had  been  captured,  he  relieved  the 
embarrassment  of  the  besiegers  by  offering  to  capitulate. 
The  capitulation  included  six  hundred  and  fifty  regular 


KEVOLUTTONARY  INCIDENTS.  109 

soldiers,  and  near  thirteen  hundred  effective  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  all  of  whom  were  to  be  shipped  to  France.  The 
Island  of  St.  John's  presently  submitted  on  the  same  terms. 
The  loss  during  the  siege  was  less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty, 
but  among  those  reluctantly  detained  to  garrison  the  con- 
quered fortress  ten  times  as  many  perished  afterward  by 
sickness.  In  the  expedition  of  Vernon  and  this  against 
Louisburo;,  perished  a  large  number  of  the  remaining  Indians 
of  New  England,  persuaded  to  enlist  as  soldiers  in  the  colo- 
nial regiments. 

Some  dispute  arose  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  the  land 
and  the  naval  forces,  which  had  been  joined  during  the  siege 
by  additional  ships  from  England.  Pepperell,  however,  was 
made  a  baronet,  and  both  he  and  Shirley  were  commissioned 
as  colonels  in  the  British  army.  Warren  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  rear  admiral.  The  capture  of  this  strong  fortress, 
effected  in  the  face  of  many  strong  obstacles,  shed,  indeed,  a 
momentary  luster  over  one  of  the  most  unsuccessful  wars  in 
which  Britain  was  ever  engaged.  It  attracted,  also,  special 
attention  to  the  growing  strength  and  enterprise  of  the  people 
of  New  England,  represented  by  Warren,  in  his  communica- 
tions to  the  ministry,  as  having  "the  highest  notions  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  Englishmen;  and,  indeed,  as  almost 
Levelers." 

The  French,  on  their  side,  were  not  idle.  The  garrison  of 
Crown  Point  sent  out  a  detachment,  which  took  the  Massachu- 
setts fort  at  Hoosick,  now  Williams  town,  and  presently  sur- 
prised and  ravaged  the  settlement  recently  established  at 
Saratoga.  Even  the  counties  of  Ulster  and  Orange,  on  the 
lower  Hudson,  struck  with  panic,  expected  the  speedy  arrival 
of  Canadian  and  Indian  invaders. 

The  easy  conquest  of  Louisburg  revived  the  often  disap- 
pointed hope  of  the  conquest  of  Canada.  Shirley  submitted 
to  Newcastle  a  plan  for  a  colonial  army  to  undertake  this 
enterprise.  But  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
British  marine,  took  alarm  at  the  idea  of  "the  independence 
it  might  create  in  those  provinces,  when  they  shall  see  within 
themselves  so  great  an  army,  possessed  of  so  great  a  country 
by  right  of  conquest."  The  old  plan  was  therefore  preferred, 
of  sending  a  fleet  and  army  from  England  to  capture  Quebec, 
to  be  joined  at  Louisburg  by  the  New  England  levies,  while 
10 


110  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

the  forces  of  other  colonies  operated   in  the  rear,  against 
Montreal. 

Orders  were  accordingly  sent  to  the  colonies  to  raise 
troops,  which  the  king  wrould  pay.  Hardly  were  these 
orders  across  the  Atlantic,  wffen  the  ministers  changed  their 
mind ;  but,  before  the  countermand  arrived,  the  colonial 
levies  were  already  on  foot.  In  spite  of  the  mortality  at 
Louisburg,  Massachusetts  raised  three  thousand  five  hundred 
men,  Connecticut  raised  a  thousand,  New  Hampshire  five 
hundred,  Ehode  Island  three  hundred.  The  province  of  New 
York  voted  sixteen  hundred  men,  New  Jersey  five  hundred, 
Maryland  three  hundred,  Virginia  one  hundred.  Money  was 
voted  by  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  for  enlisting  four 
hundred  men.  The  troops  from  the  southern  colonies,  and 
those  also  from  Connecticut,  assembled  at  Albany.  The 
command,  declined  by  Governor  Gouch,  of  Virginia,  was 
assumed  by  Clinton,  of  New  York.  Not  only  was  Clinton 
involved  in  a  violent  controversy  with  the  Assembly,  but  a 
majority  of  the  Council,  headed  by  Delancey,  the  Chief 
Justice,  continued  to  sit  at  New  York  during  the  Governor's 
absence  at  Albany,  and  to  dispute  with  him  the  administra- 
tion of  the  province.  His  military  command  was  not  less 
embarrassing.  The  corporation  of  Albany  refused  to  pro- 
vide quarters  for  the  soldiers  ;  the  bills  drawn  by  Clinton  on 
the  British  treasury  failed  to  purchase  provisions  ;  impress- 
ment was  resorted  to,  but  it  was  not  without  difficulty  that 
the  troops  were  subsisted. 

The  office  of  agent  for  the  Five  Nations,  hitherto  held  by 
Major  Shuyler's  son,  had  been  taken  from  him  by  Clinton 
and  given  to  William  Johnston,  who  led  a  party  of  Mohawks, 
destined  to  act  in  front  of  the  main  army.  Of  Scotch-Irish 
descent,  Johnston  had  established  himself  some  ten  or  twelve 
years  previously  on  the  Mohawk  river,  thirty  miles  west  of 
Albany,  at  the  head  of  a  new  frontier  settlement,  undertaken 
on  behalf  of  his  uncle,  Admiral  Warren,  who  had  married  in 
New  York,  and  had  thus  been  led  to  engage  in  colonial  land 
speculations.  A  man  of  coarse  but  vigorous  mind,  and  great 
bodily  strength,  Johnston  carefully  cultivated  the  good  will 
of  the  Mohawks,  with  whom  he  carried  on  a  lucrative  traffic. 
He  had  an  Indian  wife,  or  mistress,  sister  of  the  afterward 
celebrated  Brant;  he  acknowledged  as  his  own,  several 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  Ill 

naif-breed  children ;  and  already  had  attained,  by  conformity 
to  their  customs  and  by  natural  aptitude,  the  same  influence 
over  the,  Mohawks  possessed  in  the  previous  generation  by 
Major  Schuyler. 

As  the  British  fleet  did  not  make  its  appearance,  fifteen 
hundred  of  the  Massachusetts  troops  were  marched  to  Albany 
to  join  Clinton.  But  attention  was  soon  drawn  to  matters 
nearer  home.  Instead  of  the  expected  English  squadron,  a 
French  fleet  of  forty  ships  of  war,  with  three  thousand 
veteran  troops  on  board,  had  sailed  for  the  American  coast, 
exciting  a  greater  alarm  throughout  New  England  than  had 
been  felt  since  the  threatened  invasion  of  1697.  This  alarm, 
the  non-appearance  of  the  British  fleet,  and  the  various  dif- 
ficulties encountered  on  the  march,  put  a  stop  to  the 
advance  on  Montreal.  A  body  of  troops  from  Canada 
appeared  at  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and,  being 
joined  by  the  French  inhabitants  there,  threatened  an  attack 
on  Annapolis.  Boston  was  thought  to  be  the  great  object 
of  the  enemy.  To  defend  it,  some  ten  thousand  militia  were 
collected,  and  such  addditions  were  made  to  the  fort,  on 
Castle  Island,  as  to  render  it  the  strongest  British  fortress  in 
America.  The  French  fleet,  shattered  by  storms  and  deci- 
mated by  a  pestilential  fever,  effected  nothing  beyond  alarm. 
The  admiral  died,  the  vice-admiral  committed  suicide.  The 
command  then  devolved  on  La  Jonquiere,  appointed  Gov- 
ernor-General of  New  France  as  successor  to  Beauharnois, 
who  had  held  that  office  for  the  last  twenty  years.  A 
second  storm  dispersed  the  ships,  which  returned  singly  to 
France.  After  the  capture  of  Jonquiere  in  a  second  attempt 
to  reach  Canada,  the  office  of  Governor-General  devolved  on 
La  Galissionniere. 

Parliament  subsequently  reimbursed  to  the  colonies  the 
expenses  of  their  futile  preparations  against  Canada,  amount- 
ing to  X235,000,  or  upward  of  a  million  of  dollars. 

Indian  parties  from  Canada  severely  harassed  the  frontier 
of  New  England.  Even  the  presence  of  a  British  squadron 
on  the  coast  was  not  without  embarrassments.  Commodore 
Knowles,  while  lying  in  Boston  harbor,  finding  himself  short 
of  men,  sent  a  press-gang  one  morning,  into  the  town,  which 
seized  and  carried  off  several  of  the  inhabitants.  As  soon 
as  this  violence  became  known,  an  infuriated  mob  assembled, 


112  HISTORICAL  AND 

and,  finding  several  officers  of  the  squadron  on  shore,  seized 
them  as  hostages  for  their  imprisoned  fellow-townsmen.  Sur- 
rounding the  town-house,  where  the  General  Court  was  in 
session,  they  demanded  redress.  After  a  vain  attempt  to 
appease  the  tumult,  Shirley  called  out  the  militia ;  hut  they 
were  very  slow  to  ohey.  Doubtful  of  his  own  safety,  he  re- 
tired to  the  castle,  whence  he  wrote  to  Knowles,  representing 
the  confusion  he  had  caused,  and  urging  the  discharge  of  the 
persons  he  had  impressed.  Knowles  offered  a  hody  of  marines 
to  sustain  the  governor's  authority,  and  threatened  to  bombard 
the  town  unless  his  officers  were  released.  The  mob,  on  the 
other  hand,  began  to  question  whether  the  governor's  retire- 
ment to  the  castle  did  not  amount  to  an  abdication.  Matters 
assumed  a  very  serious  aspect ;  and  those  influential  persons 
who  had  countenanced  the  tumult,  now  thought  it  time  to 
interfere  for  its  suppression.  The  House  of  Representatives 
resolved  to  stand  by  the  governor  "  with  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes." The  council  ordered  the  release  of  the  officers.  The 
inhabitants  of  Boston,  at  a  town  meeting,  shifted  off  the 
credit  of  the  riot  upon  "  negroes  and  persons  of  vile  condi- 
tion." The  governor  was  escorted  back  by  the  militia; 
Knowles  discharged  the  greater  part  of  the  impressed  men, 
and  presently  departed  with  his  squadron.  No  allusion  was 
made,  in  the  course  of  this  affair,  to  the  statute  of  Anne, 
prohibiting  impressments  in  America.  That  act,  indeed,  ac- 
cording to  the  opinion  of  several  English  crown  lawyers,  had 
expired  with  Queen  Anne's  war.  Shirley,  in  his  letters  to 
the  Board  of  Trade,  on  the  subject  of  this  "rebellious  insur- 
rection," ascribes  "  the  mobbish  turn  of  a  town  of  twenty 
thousand  persons"  to  its  constitulion,  which  devolved  the 
management  of  its  affairs  on  "  the  populace,  assembled  in 
town  meetings."  Boston  had  already  attained  an  amount  of 
population  at  which  it  remained  stationary  for  the  next  fifty 
years.  (1747.) 

The  towns  of  Suffield,  Somers,  Enfield,  and  Woodstock, 
originally  settled  under  Massachusetts  grants,  and  assigned 
to  that  province  in  1713,  by  the  boundary  convention  with 
Connecticut,  finding  the  rate  of  taxation  in  Massachusetts 
enhanced  by  the  late  military  expenses,  applied  to  Connecti- 
cut to  take  them  into  her  jurisdiction.  They  claimed  to  be 
within  the  Connecticut  charter.  They  alleged  that  the 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  113 

former  agreement  had  never  been  ratified  by  the  crown,  and 
that  Connecticut  had  received  no  equivalent  for  her  surrender 
of  jurisdiction.  This  application  was  listened  to  with  favor. 
Some  show,  indeed,  was  made  of  asking  the  consent  of  Mas- 
sachusetts ;  but,  when  that  consent  was  refused,  the  towns 
were  received  by  Connecticut  without  it,  and  to  that  province 
they  have  ever  since  belonged.  Massachusetts  threatened 
an  appeal  to  the  king  in  council,  but  hesitated  to  prosecute 
it,  lest  she  might  lose,  as  in  her  former  controversy  with  New 
Hampshire,  not  only  the  towns  in  dispute,  but  other  territory 
a1  so. 

Some  liberated  prisoners  from  Martinique,  a  great  resort 
for  French  cruisers,  brought  a  report  to  Philadelphia  that  a 
fleet  of  privateers,  knowing  the  unfortified  state  of  that  city, 
and  trusting  that  the  Quakers  would  not  fight,  intended  to 
make  a  combined  expedition  up  the  Delaware.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  alarm,  fortifications  were  erected  and  a  mili- 
tary organization  adopted  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Assembly 
still  refused  to  do  anything ;  but  an  associated  volunteer 
militia,  ten  thousand  strong,  was  organized  and  equipped. 
Money  was  also  raised  by  lottery  to  erect  batteries  for  the 
defense  of  the  Delaware,  toward  which  the  proprietaries  con- 
tributed twelve  pieces  of  cannon.  "  Plain  Truth,"  a  little 
pamphlet  written  by  Franklin,  greatly  contributed  to  these 
movements.  By  twenty  years  of  diligent  labor  as  a  printer, 
newspaper  publisher  and  ecfttor,  Franklin  had  acquired  a 
handsome  property;  and,  at  the  age  of  forty,  he  now  began 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  province, 
being  chosen  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  of  which,  for  ten 
years  previous,  he  had  acted  as  clerk. 

A  portion  of  the  Quakers  were  inclined  to  justify  defensive 
war.  Chew,  chief  justice  of  Delaware,  had  been  disowned 
by  the  yearly  meeting  for  avowing  that  opinion,  but  it  still 
continued  to  gain  ground.  The  now  venerable  Logan,  who, 
indeed,  had  never  been  much  of  a  Quaker,  entertained  the 
same  views ;  but  increased  age  and  infirmities  had  withdrawn 
him,  for  some  time,  from  active  participation  in  affairs. 

The  war  so  inconsiderately  begun,  through  the  resolution 

of  the  British   merchants   to   force    a  trade  with  Spanish 

America,  after  spreading,  first  to  Europe  and  then  to  India, 

and    adding   $144,000,000,  (£30,000,000,)  to   the    British 

11* 


114  HISTORICAL  AND 

national  debt,  was  at  last  brought  to  a  close  by  tbe  peace  of 
Aix  la  Chapelle.  (Oct.  8,  1748.)  Notwithstanding  a  for- 
mer emphatic  declaration  of  the  British  government,  that 
peace  never  should  be  made  unless  the  right  to  navigate  the 
Spanish-American  seas  free  from  search  were  conceded,  that 
claim,  the  original  pretense  for  the  war,  was  not  even 
alluded  to  in  the  treaty.  The  St.  Mary's  was  fixed  as  the 
boundary  of  Florida.  Much  to  the  mortification  of  the  peo- 
ple of  New  England,  Cape  Breton  and  the  conquered  fortress 
of  Louisburg  were  restored  to  the  French,  who  obtained,  in 
addition,  the  little  islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  on  the 
south  coast  of  Newfoundland,  as  stations  for  their  fishermen. 
A  new  commission  was  also  agreed  to  for  the  settlement  of 
French  and  English  boundaries  in  America — a  matter  left 
unsettled  since  the  treaty  of  Ryswick. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Commencement  :>f  the  final  struggle  between  the  French  and  English  for 
the  country  a  the  great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi — Fourth  Intercolo- 
nial War. 

WE  come  now  to  the  fourth  intercolonial  war,  in  which 
Washington,  the  first  incarnation  of  Sam  in  moderate  earthly 
mould,  makes  his  appearance  upon  a  stage,  the  drama  of 
which  is  to  fill  the  eye  of  the  world — a  drama,  of  which,  he 
is  to  he  the  central  figure. 

We  must  again  own  our  obligation  to  our  admirable  Ameri- 
can historian  for  the  narrative  of  this  war. 

Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  of  the  council  of  Virginia,  penetrating 
through  the  mountainous  south-eastern  regions  of  that  pro- 
vince, had  reached  and  crossed  the  ridge  which  separates  the 
valley  of  the  Tennessee  from  the  head  waters  of  the  more 
northerly  tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  To  that  ridge  he  gave 
the  name  of  Cumberland  Mountains,  after  the  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland, of  the  English  blood  royal,  just  then  very  famous 
by  his  victory  over  the  Pretender,  a't  Culloden.  The  name 
of  Cumberland  was  also  given  to  one  of  the  rivers  flowing 
down  the  western  slope  of  that  ridge.  A  more  northerly 
stream,  called  by  Walker  the  Louisa,  still  preserves  its  abori- 
ginal appellation  of  Kentucky,  not,  however,  without  con- 
formity to  the  English  idiom  in  a  retraction  of  the  accent 
frun  the  last  to  the  second  syllable.  The  region  entered  by 
Walker,  fu-ll  of  abrupt  and  barren  mountains,  attracted  little 
attention.  The  country  about  the  head  of  the  Ohio  seemed 
much  more  inviting. 

An  association  of  London  merchants  and  Virginia  land 
speculators,  known  as  the  Ohio  Company,  obtained  in  England, 

115 


116  HISTORICAL  AND 

shortly  after  the  peace,  a  grant  of  six  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  land  on  the  east  bank  of  that  river,  with  exclusive 
privileges  of  Indian  traffic — a  grant  esteemed  an  encroach- 
ment by  the  French,  who  claimed  as  theirs,  by  right  of 
discovery  and  occupation,  the  whole  region  watered  by  the 
tributaries  of  the  Mississippi.  (1749.)  A  counter  claim, 
indeed,  was  set  up  by  the  English,  in  the  name  of  the  Six 
Nations,  recognized  by  the  treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Aix  la 
Chapelle  as  under  British  protection,  whose  empire,  it  was 
pretended,  had  formerly  been  carried  by  conquest  over  the 
whole  eastern  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the  basin, 
also,  of  the  lower  lakes.  In  maintenance  of  these  pretensions, 
Colden's  "  History  of  the  Five  Nations"  had  recently  been 
published.  The  French,  in  reply,  pointed  to  their  posts, 
many  of  them  of  considerable  antiquity,  more  than  sixty  in 
number,  along  the  great  lakes  and  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  missions  had  declined,  but  the  Indian  trade  con- 
tinued to  flourish.  At  the  principal  posts  were  regular 
garrisons,  relieved  once  in  six  years.  Such  of  the  disbanded 
soldiers  as  chose  to  remain,  beside  a  grant  of  land,  received 
a  cow  and  a  calf,  a  cock  and  five  hens,  an  ax,  a  hoe,  a  gun, 
with  powder  and  shot,  grain  for  seed,  and  rations  for  three 
years.  Wives  were  sent  out  to  them  from  France,  or  they 
intermarried  with  the  Indians.  The  boats  from  the  Illinois 
country,  descending  annually  to  New  Orleans,  carried  flour, 
Indian  corn,  bacon,  both  of  hog  and  bear,  beef  and  pork, 
buffalo  robes,  hides  and  tallow.  The  downward  voyage  was 
made  in  December;  in  February  the  boat  returned  with 
European  goods  for  consumption  and  Indian  traffic.  The 
Indians  north  west  of  the  Ohio,  including  the  remains  of  the 
tribes  whom  the  Iroquois  had  formerly  driven  from  their 
homes  on  the  Ottawa,  the  Hurons  or  Wyandots,  the  Miamies, 
the  Illinois,  all  rejoiced  in  the  alliance,  or  recognized  the 
authority  of  the  French.  As  respected  the  country  on  the 
upper  lakes,  the  Mississipi,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Wabash,  the 
French  title,  according  to  European  usage,  was  complete. 

The  country  immediately  south  of  Lake  Erie,  covered  with 
dense  forests,  and  with  few  Indian  inhabitants,  had  hitherto, 
in  a  great  measure,  been  neglected.  But  the  Count  de  la 
Galissonniere,  shortly  after  assuming  office  as  governor- 
general,  had  sent  ])e  Celeron,  with  three  hundred  men,  to 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  117 

traverse  the  country  from  Detroit  east  to  the  mountains,  to 
bury,  at  the  most  important  points,  leaden  plates  with  the 
arms  of  France  engraved,  to  take  possession  with  a  formal 
process  verbal,  and  to  warn  the  English  traders  out  of  the 
country. 

To  secure  Nova  Scotia,  to  guard  the  commerce  and  fisheries 
of  New  England,  and  to  offset  the  restored  fortress  of  Louis- 
burg,  the  British  government  hastened  to  establish  at  Che- 
bucto  the  military  colony  and  fort  of  Halifax,  so  called  after 
the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  took  a  great  in- 
terest in  its  establishment.  During  the  next  twenty-five 
years  this  fortress  cost  Great  Britain  not  less  than  three 
millions  of  dollars — a  striking  instance  of  the  expenses  of 
modern  warlike  preparations,  equivalent,  in  fact,  to  a  per- 
petual war. 

Admiral  De  la  Jonquiere  having  entered  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  New  France,  his  predecessor,  De  la  Galissonniere, 
proceeded  to  Paris  as  one  of  the  boundary  commissioners 
under  the  late  treaty.  In  two  thick  quarto  volumes  of  pro- 
tocols, these  commissioners  vainly  attempted  to  settle  what 
had  been  meant  in  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  by  the  "  ancient 
limits  "  of  Acadie.  The  English  claimed  under  that  appella- 
tion both  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy — indeed,  the  whole 
region  east  of  the  Penobscot.  The  French,  on  the  other 
hand,  sought  to  restrict  the  cession  of  Acadie  to  the  peninsula 
to  which  the  name  of  Nova  Scotia  is  at  present  confined, 
claiming  the  north  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  as  a  part  of 
Canada.  Nor  did  they  satisfy  themselves  with  protocols 
only.  Troops  from  Canada  established  the  posts  of  Gas- 
pare au  and  Beau  Sejour,  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  isth- 
mus, between  the  waters  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  those  of 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence — a  vicinity  in  which  was  planted 
a  considerable  body  of  ancient  French  colonists  still  warmly 
attached  to  the  French  interest.  Cornwallis,  governor  of 
Nova  Scotia,  wrote  pressingly  to  Massachusetts  for  aid.  Not 
strong  enough  to  dislodge  these  intruders,  he  caused  two 
opposing  forts  to  be  built  at  Beau  Bassin  and  Minas.  A  third 
post  was  also  established  by  the  French  near  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  John.  (1749.) 

Determined  also  to  strengthen  their  hold  on  the  disputed 
western  region,  the  French  enlarged  and  strengthened  their 


118  HISTORICAL  AND 

post  at  Niagara.  (1750.)  They  even  obtained  leave  to 
build  a  fort  and  trading  house  on  the  borders  of  the  Mohawk 
country.  Alarmed  for  the  fidelity  of  the  Six  Nations,  who 
never  had  recognized  the  claim  of  English  dominion,  Clinton, 
governor  of  New  York,  proposed  a  new  treaty,  in  which  he 
invited  all  the  colonies  to  participate.  (1751.)  Only  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  and  South  Carolina  chose  to  incur  the 
expense.  The  French  built  vessels  of  unusual  force  at  Fort 
Frontenac.  They  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  those 
bands  of  Dela wares  and  Shawanese  whom  the  pressure  of 
new  settlements  in  Pennsylvania  had  lately  driven  from  the 
Susquehanna  toward  the  Ohio,  and  to  whom  the  operations 
of  the  Ohio  Company,  in  the  establishment  of  a  post  and  trad- 
ing house  at  Bedstone,  now  Brownsville,  on  the  Monongahela, 
had  given  great  offense.  The  Marquis  Du  Quesne,  Jonquiere's 
successor  as  governor-general,  followed  up  the  same  policy. 
A  band  of  the  Miamies,  or  Twigties,  as  the  English  called 
them,  settled  at  Sandusky,  having  refused  to  remove  to  De- 
troit, and  persisting  in  trade  with  the  English,  their  village 
was  burned.  The  English  traders  were  seized,  and  their  , 
merchandise  confiscated.  Early  the  next  year,  twelve  hun- 
dred men  from  Montreal  built  a  fort  at  Presque  Isle,  now 
Erie,  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake  of  that  name.  Cross- 
ing thence  to  the  waters  flowing  south,  they  established  posts 
at  La  Bceuf  and  Venango,  the  one  on  French  Creek,  the  other 
on  the  main  stream  of  the  Allegany,  which  meets  the  Mo- 
nongahela flowing  north,  and  unites  with  it  to  form  the  Ohio. 
(1753.) 

The  Board  of  Trade  reported  to  the  king  that,  "  as  the 
French  had  not  the  least  pretense  of  right  to  the  territory 
on  the  Ohio,  an  important  river  rising  in  Pennsylvania  and  „ 
running  through  Virginia,  it  was  matter  of  wonder  what 
such  a  strange  expedition,  in  time  of  peace,  could  mean,  un- 
less to  complete  the  object  so  long  in  view,  of  conjoining  the 
St.  Lawrence  with  the  Mississippi."  Lord  Holderness,  suc- 
cessor to  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  as  Secretary  of  State,  dispatched 
orders  to  the  governors  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  to 
repel  force  by  force,  "  whenever  the  French  were  found  with- 
in the  undoubted  limits  of  their  provinces."  (1749.)  After 
remaining  for  three  years  in  the  hands  of  Thomas  Lee  and 
Lewis  Burwell,  successive  presidents  of  the  council,  the 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  119 

government  of  Virginia  had  passed  to  Robert  Dinwiddie,  as 
lieutenant-governor,  a  Scotsman  of  ability,  surveyor-general 
of  the  colonial  customs,  and  previously  a  counselor,  but  not  pos- 
sessed of  that  suavity  of  manners  for  which  Gouch,  his  pre- 
decessor, had  been  distinguished.  Observing  with  anxiety 
and  alarm  the  movements  of  the  French,  Dinwiddie  held  a 
treaty  with  the  Indian  bands  on  the  Monongahela,  from  whom 
he  purchased  permission  to  build  a  fort  at  the  junction  of  that 
river  with  the  Alleghany.  He  resolved,  also  to  send  a  mes- 
sage to  the  nearest  French  post,  to  demand  explanations,  and 
the  release  and  indemnification  of  the  captured  traders.  As 
bearer  of  this  message  he  selected  George  Washington,  a 
native  of  Westmoreland  county,  on  the  Potomac,  where  his 
ancestors  had  been  planters  for  three  generations.  The  pa- 
ternal inheritance,  by  the  law  of  primogeniture,  having 
passed  to  his  eldest  brother,  the  young  Washington,  a  major 
in  the  militia,  followed  the  lucrative  but  laborious  profession 
of  a  land  surveyor  in  the  Northern  Neck,  now  the  property 
of  Lord  Fairfax.  Though  not  yet  twenty-two,  already  he 
gave  evidence  of  that  rarest  of  combinations,  a  sound  judg- 
ment, with  courage,  enterprise,  and  capacity  for  action. 

After  a  dangerous  winter's  journey  of  four  hundred  miles, 
with  only  four  or  five  attendants,  the  greater  part  of  the 
way  through  uninhabited  forests,  Washington  reached  the 
French  post  at  Venango,  where  he  was  received  with  charac- 
teristic politeness.  Joncaire,  the  commander,  promised  to 
.transmit  Dinwiddie's  message  to  his  superiors  in  Canada, 
under  whose  orders  he  acted ;  but  the  French  officers,  over 
their  cups,  made  no  secret  to  Washington  of  the  intention 
entertained  by  the  French  government  permanently  to  occu- 
py all  that  country.  (1753.) 

During  Washington's  absence,  Dinwiddie  applied  to  the 
Assembly  for  funds;  but  he  found  that  Body  in  a  very. bad 
humor.  With  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  a  fee  had 
recently  been  imposed  on  the  issue  of  patents  for  lands — a 
practice  long  established  in  other  colonies,  but  hitherto  un- 
known in  Virginia.  The  House  of  Burgesses  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  Dinwiddie's  complaint  of  French  encroachments  and 
call  for  money.  Wholly  engrossed  by  the  affair  of  the  ob- 
noxious fee,  they  resolved  that  whosoever  paid  it,  ought  to  be 
regarded  as  betraying  the  rights  of  the  people ;  and  they 


120  HISTORICAL  AND 

sent  to  England,  as  bearer  of  their  complaints,  Peyton  Kan- 
dolpli,  attorney-general  of  the  province,  twenty  years  after 
president  of  the  Continental  Congress,  to  whom  they  voted 
a  salary  of  £2,000,  out  of  the  provincial  funds  in  the  hands 
of  the  speaker. 

Notwithstanding  this  disappointment,  Dinwiddie  enlisted  a 
aptain's  command,  and  sent  them  to  build  a  fort  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Alleghany  and  the  Monongahela.  The  western 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania  was  not  yet  run.  It  was  uncer- 
tain whether  the  head  of  the  Ohio  fell  within  that  province ; 
if  not,  it  was  claimed  as  appertaining  to  Virginia. 

As  soldiers  could  not  be  supported  without  money,  Din- 
widdie called  on  the  neighboring  colonies  for  aid,  and  present- 
ly again  summoned  the  Virginia  Assembly.  Washington 
had  now  returned.  The  designs  of  the  French  were  obvi- 
ous, and  the  Assembly  granted  £  10,000  toward  the  defense 
of  the  frontiers.  A  committee  of  the  burgesses  was  ap- 
pointed to  act  in  concert  with  the  governor  in  the  expenditure 
of  this  money — an  "encroachment  on  the  prerogative,"  to 
which,  from  necessity,  Dinwiddie  reluctantly  submitted. 

Urged  by  Governor  Hamilton  to  take  measures  to  with- 
stand the  intrusions  of  the  French,  the  Assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania offered  supplies  in  paper  money.  But  to  this, 
Hamilton,  by  his  instructions,  could  not  assent,  at  least  not 
without  a  suspending  clause  of  reference  to  England,  to 
which  the  Assembly  would  not  agree.  (1754.) 

Again  urged  to  co-operate  with  Virginia,  the  Assembly 
passed  a  new  bill  for  paper  money  supplies,  which  the  gover- 
nor again  rejected.  Some  members  of  the  Assembly — and 
the  same  was  presently  the  case  in  New  York — expressed 
doubts  if  the  crown  actually  had  any  claim  to  the  territory 
on  which  the  French  were  said  to  be  encroaching.  Governor 
Glen,  of  South  Carolina,  doubted  too.  But  any  such  doubts 
were  regarded  by  the  zealous  Dinwiddie  as  little  short  of 
treason.  In  New  York  also,  as  well  as  in  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania,  internal  disputes  distracted  attention  from  the 
designs  of  the  French.  Clinton  had  resigned,  wearied  out 
by  ineffectual  struggles  against  Delancey,  who  had  been 
joined,  also,  by  Golden,  and  whom  the  united  influence  of 
Alexander,  Smith,  and  Johnson,  lately  raised  to  the  council, 
was  not  sufficient  to  overmatch.  His  successor,  Sir  Danvers 


KEVOLUTIONARY-  INCIDENTS.  121 

Osborne,  came  from  England  charged  to  rebuke  the  Assem- 
bly, and  to  re-establish  the  executive  authority.  His  friends 
had  obtained  for  him  this  appointment,  hoping  that  business 
and  a  change  of  scene  might  enable  him  to  throw  off  a  fit 
of  melancholy  under  which  he  was  laboring.  But  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  task  he  had  assumed  so  aggravated  his  dis- 
order, that,  within  five  days  after  his  arrival,  he  committed 
suicide. 

It  fell  to  Delancey,  as  lieutenant-governor,  to  which  dignity 
he  had  just  been  raised,  to  lay  Osborne's  instructions  before 
the  Assembly.  An  address  to  the  king  and  a  representation 
to  the  Board  of  Trade,  indignantly  denied  the  imputations 
of  turbulence  and  disloyalty ;  but  all  the  arts  of  Delancey 
were  exhausted  in  vain,  to  move  the  Assembly  from  their 
policy  of  annual  votes.  The  most  he  could  obtain  was,  that 
money  once  voted,  should  be  drawn  out  of  the  treasury  on 
the  order  of  the  governor  and  council,  and  a  promise  not  to 
interfere  with  executive  matters. 

The  government  of  Maryland  had  recently  been  conferred 
on  Horatio  Sharpe,  a  military  officer ;  but  a  quarrel  about 
supplies,  similar  to  that  in  Pennsylvania,  prevented  the  aid 
which  Dinwiddie  had  asked. 

North  Carolina  alone,  of  all  the  colonies  applied  to,  re- 
sponded promptly,  by  voting  a  regiment  of  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  The  temporary  administration  of  that  province 
was  held  by  Michael  Rowan,  as  president  of  the  council,  who 
availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  consent  to  a  new  issue 
of  paper  mo^ey.  But  these  North  Carolina  troops  proved  of 
little  use.  By  the  time  they  reached  Winchester,  in  Vir- 
ginia, the  greater  part  had  disbanded  on  some  doubts  as  to 
their  pay,  the  appropriation  for  that  purpose  being  already 
exhausted. 

A  regiment  of  six  hundred  men  had  been  enlisted  in  Vir- 
ginia, of  which  Frye  was  appointed  Colonel,  and  Washington 
lieutenant-colonel.  To  encourage  enlistment,  Dinwiddie 
promised  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  to  be  divided 
among  the  officers  and  soldiers.  Two  independent  companies 
from  New  York,  and  another  from  South  Carolina  were  or- 
dered to  Virginia  to  assist  in  the  operations  against  the 

French.' 

11 


122  HlSTOEICAL   AND 

The  Virginia  troops,  on  their  march  to  the  frontier, 
encountered  abundance  of  difficulties.  Very  little  disposition 
was  shown  to  facilitate  their  progress.  It  was  only  by 
impressment  that  means  could  be  obtained  to  transport  the 
baggage  and  stores.  By  slow  and  toilsome  steps,  the  troops 
made  their  way  to  Will's  Creek,  on  the  Potomac,  where  they 
were  met  by  alarming  intelligence.  The  French,  under 
Contrecoeur,  had  descended  in  force  from  Venango,  and, 
having  sent  off  Dinwiddie's  soldiers,  who  were  building  a 
fort  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  they  Jiad  themselves  seized  that 
important  spot  and  commenced  a  fort,  which  they  called  Du 
Quesne,  after  the  Governor-General. 

A  detachment  under  Washington  hastily  sent  forward  to 
reconnoiter,  just  before  reaching  Bedstone,  at  a  place  called 
the  Great  Meadows,  encountered  a  French  party,  which 
Washington  attacked  by  surprise,  and  whose  commander, 
Jumonville,  was  killed  —  the  first  blood  shed  in  this  war. 

By  Frye's  death,  the  chief  command  devolved  on  Washing- 
ton. He  was  soon  joined  by  the  rest  of  the  troops,  and, 
having  erected  a  stockade  at  the  Great  Meadows,  called  Fort 
Necessity,  pushed  on  toward  Du  Quesne.  The  approach  of  a 
much  superior  force  under  M.  de  Villier,  brother  of  Jumon- 
ville, obliged  him  to  fall  back  to  Fort  Necessity.  His  troops 
were  fatigued,  discouraged,  and  short  of  provisions  ;  and, 
after  a  day's  fighting,  he  agreed  to  give  up  the  fort,  and 
to  retire  with  his  arms  and  baggage.  Washington  did  not 
know  French ;  his  interpreter,  a  Dutchman,  was  ignorant  or 
treacherous,  and  the  articles  of  capitulation  were  made  to 
contain  an  express  acknowledgment  of  the  "  assassination  " 
of  Jumonville.  Having  retired  to  Will's  Creek,  Washington's 
troops  assisted  in  the  erection  of  Fort  Cumberland,  which  now 
became  the  westernmost  English  post. 

At  the  same  time,  with  his  orders  to  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania, Holderness  had  addressed  a  circular  letter  to  all  the 
colonies,  proposing  a  convention  at  Albany  of  committees 
from  the  several  colonial  Assemblies,  to  renew  the  treaty 
with  the  Six  Nations,  whose  friendship  at  this  crisis,  was  of 
great  importance.  Agreeably  to  his  recommendation,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  the  four  New  England 
colonies,  appointed  committees.  While  Washington  was 
operating  toward  the  Monongahela,  this  convention  met, 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  128 

and  after  carefully  settling  the  question  of  precedence, 
organized  itself,  with  Delancey,  of  New  York,  as  presiding 
officer.  The  ill  feeling  between  the  Governor  and  the 
Assembly  of  Virginia,  prevented  any  representation  from 
that  colony. 

Having  returned  from  his  unavailing  mission  to  Paris, 
Shirley  had  resumed  the  government  of  Massachusetts.  But, 
what  greatly  damaged  his  popularity  among  a  people  so 
hostile  to  the  French,  and  to  all  popish  connections,  he 
brought  with  him  from  Paris  a  young  wife,  a  French  woman 
and  a  Catholic.  Perceiving  a  war  to  be  approaching,  he 
summoned  the  Eastern  Indians  to  renew  their  treaties.  But 
they  eagerly  availed  themselves  of  this  new  opportunity  to 
raise  the  hatchet.  For  the  sixth  time  within  eighty  years, 
luckily  destined  to  be  the  last,  the  frontiers  of  New  England 
again  suffered.  The  General  Court  readily  voted  money  to 
repel  these  hostilities ;  and,  as  an  offset  to  a  reported  French 
fort  near  the  head  of  the  Chaudie're — while  Washington  was 
fortifying  at  Will's  Creek— Shirley  built  Fort  Halifax,  high 
up  the  Kennebec.  Hardly  had  the  Governor  returned  from 
the  eastward,  when  Hoosick  and  Stockbridge,  on  the  western 
frontier,  were  assailed  by  an  Indian  war  party.  These 
assailants  belonged  to  a  tribe  largely  composed  of  descend- 
ants of  refugees  driven  from  Massachusetts  in  the  time  of 
Philip's  war.  As  a  protection  to  that  frontier,  the  Stock- 
bridge  tribe  was  taken  into  pay. 

Maryland  and  New  York  voted  in  aid  of  Virginia,  the  one 
£6000,  the  other  £5000 ;  £10,000  were  also  received  from 
England,  whence  came  a  commission  to  Sharpe,  governor  of 
Maryland,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces  to  be  em- 
ployed against  the  French.  Warm  disputes  about  rank  and 
precedence  had  already  arisen  between  the  Virgina  regi- 
mental officers  and  the  captains  of  the  independent  com 
panies.  To  stop  this  dispute,  Dinwiddie  had  dispensed  with 
field  officers,  and  broken  the  Virginia  regiment  into  separate 
companies — an  arrangement  which  had  driven  Washington 
from  the  service. 

The  pending  territorial  disputes  led  about  this  time  to  the 
publication  of  the  maps  of  Evans  and  Mitchell,  the  first 
embracing  the  middle  colonies,  the  other  the  whole  of  North 
America.  The  first  edition  of  Mitchell's  map  had  appeared 


124  HISTORICAL  AND 

in  1749  ;  but  a  new  edition  was  now  published,  with  improve- 
ments. The  British  North  American  colonies  stretched  a 
thousand  miles  along  the  Atlantic,  but  their  extent  inland 
was  very  limited.  According  to  a  return  made  to  the  Board 
of  Trade,  the  population  amounted  to — 

Whites, 1,192,896 

Blacks, 292,738 

Total 1,485,634 

New  France,  on  the  other  hand,  had  scarcely  a  hundred 
thousand  people,  scattered  over  a  vastly  wider  space,  from 
Cape  Breton  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  but  mainly 
collected  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  betweeen  Quebec  and  Mon- 
treal. The  remote  situation  of  their  settlements,  separated 
from  the  English  by  uninhabited  forests  and  unexplored 
mountains,  the  very  dispersion  of  their  force  over  so  vast  a 
space,  gave  the  French  a  certain  security,  while  the  whole 
western  frontier  of  the  English,  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  lay 
exposed  to  attack  by  the  Indian  tribes,  disgusted  by  constant 
encroachments  on  their  hunting-grounds,  and  ripe  and  ready 
for  a  troublesome  and  cruel  warfare.  There  were  kept  in 
Canada,  for  the  defense  of  the  province,  thirty-three  com- 
panies of  regular  troops,  of  about  fifty  men  each. 

The  loud  complaints  of  the  English  embassador  at  Paris 
were  met  by  protestations  esteemed  unmeaning  or  insincere. 
A  struggle  was  evidently  impending  in  America,  greater 
than  had  yet  been  known.  In  anticipation  of  approaching 
hostilities,  a  general  order  gave  to  all  officers  commissioned 
by  the  king  or  the  commander-in-chief,  precedence  over  such 
as  had  only  colonial  commissions — an  order  which  created 
great  disgust  and  occasioned  much  trouble  in  America.  New 
clauses  introduced  into  the  annnal  Mutiny  Act,  subjected  the 
colonial  soldiers,  when  acting  in  conjunction  with  regular 
troops,  to  the  rigid  rules  of  the  regular  service,  and  required 
the  colonial  Assemblies  to  provide  quarters  and  certain  enu- 
merated supplies  for  the  regular  troops  within  their  jurisdic- 
tion. General  Braddock,  appointed  commander-in-chief,  was 
dispatched  to  the  Chesapeake  with  two  British  regiments. 
Two  regiments  of  a  thousand  men  each,  to  be  paid  by  the 
crown,  one  Pepperell's,  the  other  Shirley's,  were  ordered  to 
bo  raised  and  officered  in  New  England.  The  colonies  were 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  125 

also  to  be  called  upon  for  their  respective  quotas  of  colonial 
levies.  As  the  Quaker  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  had 
scruples  about  raising  troops,  three  thousand  men  were  to 
be  enlisted  in  that  province  by  authority  of  the  crown. 

At  Alexandria,  on  the  Potomac,  Braddock  met  a  conven- 
tion of  colonial  governors,  with  whom  he  settled  the  plan  of 
the  campaign.  He  undertook  to  march  in  person  against 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  to  expel  the  French  from  the  Ohio. 
Shirley,  lately  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  was 
to  march  against  Niagara.  The  capture  of  Crown  Point, 
already  planned  by  Shirley,  and  resolved  upon  by  Massachu- 
setts, was  intrusted  to  Johnson,  whose  ascendency  over  the 
Six  Nations  had  lately  procured  for  him  a  royal  appointment 
as  general  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  with  the  sole 
power  of  making  treaties.  There  was  already  on  foot  a 
fourth  expedition,  concerted  by  Shirley  and  Lawrence,  gov- 
ernor of  Nova  Scotia,  for  the  capture  of  the  French  posts 
near  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  the  expulsion  of  th? 
French  from  that  province. 

In  anticipation  of  Braddock's  arrival,  application  for  troops 
had  already  been  made  by  the  several  governors.  Massachu- 
setts responded  with  zeal,  and  a  levy  was  ordered  of  three 
thousand  two  hundred  men.  The  exportation  of  provisions, 
except  to  other  British  colonies,  and  any  correspondence  with 
the  French  were  prohibited ;  but  it  required  a  pretty  watch- 
ful eye  to  put  a  stop  to  this  commerce.  The  treasurer  was 
authorized  to  borrow  £50,000,  ($166,666,)  on  the  credit  of 
taxes  to  produce  that  sum  within  two  years.  This  method 
of  providing  funds  proved  successful,  and  was  adhered  to 
during  the  war. 

The  Assembly  of  New  York  voted  £45,000  in  paper  bills, 
for  erecting  fortifications  and  enlisting  eight  hundred  men. 
They  ordered  barracks  to  be  built ;  and  though  they  made  no 
^appropriation  for  supplying  the  other  articles  required  by  the 
Mutiny  Act,  their  unexpected  promptitude  and  liberality 
were  highly  applauded  by  the  Board  of  Trade.  The  New 
Jersey  Assembly,  beside  providing  for  the  subsistence  of  the 
king's  troops,  as  the  Mutiny  Act  required,  ordered  five  hun- 
dred men  to  be  raised,  and  to  pay  the  expense,  they  raised 
£70,000  of  new  paper. 
11* 


126  HISTORICAL  AND 

If  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the  six  northern  colonies  sur- 
passed the  expectations  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  aid 
furnished  by  the  more  southern  provinces  was  comparatively 
trifling.  (1754.) 

The  Assembly  of  Maryland  voted  toward  Braddock's  expe- 
dition £10,000  in  paper,  to  be  redeemed  out  of  fines  and 
forfeitures.  But  the  fines  and  forfeitures  were  claimed  as  a 
part  of  the  personal  revenue  of  the  proprietary  ;  the  council 
non-concurred,  and  the  appropriation  thus  fell  to  the  ground. 

After  a  hearing  in  England,  the  Virginia  dispute  about 
fees  for  land  patents  had  been  compromised,  and,  "  because 
the  times  required  harmony  and  confidence/'  Dinwiddie  had 
been  directed  to  restore  Kandolph  to  his  former  office  of 
attorney-general.  But  feeling  on  this  subject  did  not  imme- 
diately subside,  a  dispute  being  still  kept  up  about  Bandolph's 
payment  as  agent.  The  Assembly  voted,  however,  £20,000 
toward  the  support  of  the  colonial  levies ;  and,  in  anticipation 
of  the  taxes  imposed  to  meet  it,  authorized  the  issue  of  trea- 
sury notes — the  first  paper  money  of  Virginia. 

As  further  aid  toward  "repelling  the  encroachments  of  the 
French,"  North  Carolina  voted  £8,000.  The  government 
of  that  province  had  recently  been  given  to  Arthur  Dobbs ; 
and,  thankful  for  the  appointment  of  a  ruler  of  "known 
abilities  and  good  character  " — for  so  the  Assembly  described 
him — they  promised  to  "forget  former  contests.''  But  the 
new  governor,  anxious  to  enhance  his  authority,  soon  became 
involved  in  disputes  with  the  Assembly,  whose  speaker,  Star- 
kie,  he  stigmatized  "as  a  Kepublican  of  puritanic  humility, 
but  unbounded  ambition."  Starkie  was  treasurer  as  well  as 
speaker.  He  could  lend  money  to  the  delegates;  and  his 
influence  far  exceeded  that  of  a  governor  "  who  had  not  the 
power  of  rewarding  his  friends."  (1755.) 

A  French  squadron  destined  for  America,  was  known  to  be 
fitting  out  at  Brest,  on  board  of  which  Dieskau  presently  em? 
barked  with  four  thousand  troops.  To  intercept  this  squadron, 
Boscawen  was  sent  with  a  British  fleet  to  cruise  on  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland.  Suspecting  some  such  scheme,  most  of  the 
French  ships  entered  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  by  the  Straits 
of  Belle  Isle,  whence  they  proceeded  to  Quebec.  Others 
passing  Boscawen  in  the  fog,  landed  a  thousand  men  at 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  127 

Louisburg.  Two  only  of  the  French  transports,  with  eight 
companies  on  board,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

In  consequence  of  this  attack,  the  French  embassador  was 
recalled  from  London.  The  English  ministry  retorted  by 
issuing  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  under  which  a  great 
number  of  valuable  merchant  vessels  and  not  less  than  seven 
thousand  French  seamen  were  seized.  The  French  com- 
plained loudl}r  as  well  of  these  aggressions  as  of  Washington's 
attack  on  Jumonville.  The  English,  in  excuse,  charged  the 
French  with  invading  Virginia  and  Nova  Scotia.  Hostilities 
were  already  flagrant,  but  neither  party  issued  as  yet  a 
declaration  of  war. 

While  Boscawen  was  still  cruising  off  Newfoundland,  watch- 
ing for  the  French  fleet,  three  thousand  men  embarked  at 
Boston  for  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  These  troops,  forming  a  regi- 
ment of  two  battalions,  were  led  by  John  Winslow,  a  great 
grand-son  of  Edward  Winslow,  one  of  the  patriarchs  of  Ply- 
mouth colony,  and  grandson  of  the  commander  of  the  New 
England  forces  at  the  great  swamp  fight  in  Philip's  war ;  him- 
self, during  the  previous  war,  a  captain  in  Vernon's  West  India 
expedition.  It  was  principally  through  his  popularity  and  in- 
fluence that  the  enlistments  had  been  procured.  He  was  a 
major-general  in  the  Massachusetts  militia,  but  was  persuaded 
on  this  occasion  to  accept  a  commission  as  lieutenant-colonel. 
Arrived  at  Chignecto,  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  Winslow's  forces 
were  joined  by  Colonel  Moncton,  with  three  hundred  British 
regulars,  the  garrison  of  'the  British  posts  in  that  neighbor- 
hood, to  whom  also,  Shirley  had  given  a  Massachusetts  commis- 
sion, with  a  rank  higher  than  Winslow's.  Under  his  command, 
they  marched  against  the  French  forts  recently  established  on 
the  two  shores  of  the  isthmus  at  Beau  Sejour  and  Gaspareau. 
Taken  by'  surprise,  these  forts  made  but  a  trifling  resistance. 
The  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's,  on  the  approach  of  an 
English  detachment,  was  abandoned  and  burned.  The  ex- 
pulsion of  the  French  troops  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy  had 
been  accomplished  without  difficulty.  But  what  was  to  be 
done  with  the  French  colonists,  amounting  now  to  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  thousand,  settled  principally  in  three  detached  bodies 
about  Beau  Bassin,  "the  beautiful  basin"  of  Chignecto,  on 
the  no  less  beautiful  basin  of  Minas — the  two  divisions  into 


128  HlSTOKICAL  AND 

which  the  upper  Bay  of  Fundy  divides — and  on  the  fertile 
banks  of  the  basin  or  river  of  Annapolis  ? 

It  was  thirty  years  since  Nova  Scotia  had  become  a  British 
province ;  but  these  settlers,  who  had  more  than  doubled  their 
number  in  the  interval,  continued  still  French,  not  in  lan- 
guage, religion  and  manners  only,  but  also  in  attachments, 
receiving  their  priests  from  Canada,  and  always  ready  to 
favor  any  movement  that  tended  to  restore  them  to  their 
ancient  allegiance.  By  the  terms  granted  when  the  British 
authorities  took  possession  of  the  province,  they  were  excused 
from  any  obligation  to  bear  arms  against  France,  and  were 
thence  known  as  "French  neutrals."  But  they  did  not  act  up 
even  to  that  character.  Three  hundred  of  their  young  men 
had  been  taken  in  arms  at  the  surrender  of  Beau  Sejour, 
and  one  of  their  priests  had  been  actively  employed  as  a 
French  agent.  To  curb  these  hostile  people  would  require 
several  expensive  garrisons.  If  ordered  to  quit  the  country, 
and  allowed  to  go  where  they  pleased,  they  would  retire  to 
Canada  and  Cape  Breton,  and  strengthen  the  enemy  there. 
To  devise  some  scheme  adequate  to  this  emergency,  Law^ 
rence,  lieutenant-governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  consulted  with 
Boscawen  and  Mostyn,  commanders  of  the  British  fleet,  which 
had  just  arrived  on  the  coast  after  its  cruise  to  intercept 
Dieskau.  These  military  men  took  counsel  with  Belcher, 
chief  justice  of  the  province,  a  son  of  the  former  governor  of 
Massachusetts.  The  result  was,  notwithstanding  an  express 
provision  in  the  capitulation  of  Beau  Sejour  that  the  neigh- 
boring inhabitants  should  not  be  disturbed,  a  plan  for  treach- 
erously kidnapping  the  Acadiens,  and  transporting  them  to 
the  various  British  provinces.  The  capitulation  of  Beau 
Sejour  did  not  apply  to  the  settlements  of  Minas  and  Annap- 
olis ;  but  the  people  there  strenuously  denied  any  complicity 
with  the  French  invaders,  which  seems,  indeed,  in  their  case, 
to  have  been  rather  suspected  than  proved.  (1755.) 

The  Acadiens  had  preserved  all  the  gay  simplicity  of 
incient  French  rural  manners.  Never  was  there  a  people 
more  attached  to  their  homes,  or  who  had  more  reasons  for 
being  so.  They  lived  in  rustic  plenty,  surrounded  by  herds 
of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  drawing  abundant  crops  from  the 
rich  levels,  fine  sediment  deposited  by  the  tides  on  the  borders 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  129 

of  the  basins,  and  which  their  industry  had  diked  in  from  the 
sea.  Knowing  how  much  was  to  he  dreaded  from  despair,  the 
ruthless  design  against  them  was  kept  a  profound  secret.  As- 
sembled under  various  false  pretenses  at  their  parish  churches, 
they  were  surrounded  with  troops,  made  prisoners,  and  hur- 
ried on  board  the  ships  assigned  for  their  transportation! 
Wives  separated  from  their  husbands  in  the  confusion  of 
embarking,  and  children  from  their  parents,  were  carried 
off  to  distant  colonies,  never  again  to  see  each  other !  Their 
lands,  crops,  cattle,  everything  except  household  furniture, 
which  they  could  not  carry  away,  and  money,  of  which  they 
had  little  or  none,  Avere  declared  forfeit  to  the  crown ;  and, 
to  insure  the  starvation  of  such  as  fled  to  the  woods,  and  so 
to  compel  their  surrender,  the  growing  crops  were  destroyed, 
and  the  barns  and  houses  burned,  with  all  their  contents ! 

More  than  a  thousand  of  these  unfortunate  exiles,  carried 
to  Massachusetts,  long  remained  a  burden  on  the  public,  too 
broken-hearted  and  disconsolate  to  do  much  for  themselves. 
Their  misery  excited  pity,  in  spite  of  the  angry  feeling 
created  by  protracted  hostilities ;  but  such  was  still,  in  New 
England,  the  horror  of  Popery,  that  they  were  not  allowed  to 
console  themselves  by  the  celebration  of  the  mass. 

To  every  British  North  American  colony  was  sent  a  quota 
of  these  miserable  people,  a  burden  on  the  public  charity,  for 
which  the  Assemblies  were  called  on  to  provide.  It  was  an 
object  to  get  rid  of  them  as  speedily  as  possible.  Some  made 
their  way  to  France,  others  to  Canada,  St.  Domingo,  and 
Louisiana,  the  expenses  of  their  transport  being  paid  in  many 
instances  by  the  colonial  Assemblies.  To  such  of  these  fugi- 
tives as  escaped  to  Louisiana,  lands  were  assigned  in  that 
district,  above  New  Orleans,  still  known  as  the  Acadien  coast. 
The  four  hundred  sent  to  Georgia,  built  rude  boats,  and 
coasted  northward,  hoping  to  reach  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  Few, 
however,  were  so  lucky  as  to  regain  a  French  home  and  the 
ministrations  of  the  Catholic  faith.  The  greater  part,  spirit- 
less, careless,  and  helpless,  died  in  exile,  victims  of  disap- 
pointment and  despair.  Such  was  the  result  of  that  rivalry 
of  a  century  and  a  half  between  the  English  of  New  Eng- 
land and  the  French  of  Acadie.  Such  is  religious  and  national 
antipathy.  May  we  not  hope  that  hatreds  so  atrocious  are 
fast  dying  out  ? 


130  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  authors  of  this  cruel  scheme  had  been  confirmed  in 
their  purpose  by  a  repulse  which  the  English  had,  meanwhile, 
sustained  in  the  attempt  to  drive  the  French  from  the  Ohio. 
Braddock's  regulars  had  been  landed  at  Alexandria,  a  small 
town  lately  sprung  up  near  the  head  of  ship  navigation  on 
the  Potomac.  But  great  difficulties  were  encountered  in 
obtaining  provisions  and  means  of  transportation.  The  con- 
tractors perpetually  failed  in  their  engagements,  and  Brad- 
dock  and  his  quarter-master,  both  men  of  violent  tempers, 
gave  vent,  with  very  little  reserve,  to  expressions  of  disgust 
and  contempt  for  the  colonists.  With  great  difficulty  the 
troops  reached  Cumberland,  where  they  came  to  a  full  stop. 
Franklin,  in  his  character  of  deputy  postmaster,  having  vis- 
ited the  camp  to  arrange  a  post  communication  with  Phila- 
delphia, by  assuming  responsibilities  on  his  own  credit,  which 
left  him,  in  the  end,  a  considerable  loser,  obtained  wagons 
and  horses  among  the  Pennsylvania  farmers,  which  enabled 
the  army  once  more  to  move  forward.  The  regulars  had 
been  joined  by  the  detached  companies  of  the  Virginia  levies, 
and  the  whole  force  now  amounted  to  twenty-two  hundred 
men.  Washington  had  been  invited  by  Braddock  to  attend 
him  as  an  aid-de-camp. 

From  Cumberland  to  Bedstone  was  a  distance  of  fifty 
miles,,  over  several  steep  and  rough  ridges  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains.  Only  Indian  paths  yet  traversed  this  difficult 
and  uninhabited  country,  through  which  the  troops  had  to 
cut  a  road  for  the  wagons  and  artillery.  Vexed  at  this  delay, 
Braddock  left  Colonel  Dunbar  to  bring  up  the  heavy  bag- 

fage,  and  pushed  on  in  advance,  at  the  head  of  thirteen 
undred  picked  men.  He  was  warned  of  the  danger  to 
which  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the  character  of  the 
enemy  exposed  him,  and  was  advised  to  place  the  provincials 
in  his  front,  to  scour  the  woods.  But  he  held  both  the  enemy 
and  the  provincials  in  too  much  contempt  to  give  attention  to 
this  advice.  He  had  gained  forty  miles  on  Dunbar,  and  was 
now  within  five  miles  of  Fort  Du  Quesne,  when,  about  noon, 
just  after  fording  the  Monongahela  a  second  time,  his  van, 
while  ascending  the  rising  bank  of  the  river,  was  fired  upon 
by  an  invisible  enemy.  The  assailants,  some  two  hundred 
French  and  six  hundred  Indians,  with  only  thirteen  French 
officers,  and  none  above  the  rank  of  captain,  were  posted  in 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  131 

an  open  wood,  in  some  shallow  undulations  just  deep  enough 
to  conceal  them  as  they  lay  flat  on  the  ground  among  the 
high  grass.  Braddock's  main  body  hastened  up  with  the 
artillery,  but  the  unseen  enemy  continued  to  pour  in  a  deadly 
fire ;  and  the  British  troops,  seized  with  sudden  panic,  were 
thrown  at  once  into  hopeless  confusion.  In  vain  the  general 
exerted  himself  to  restore  order.  He  had  five  horses  shot 
under  him,  and  soon  fell  mortally  wounded.  Not  less  than 
sixty  officers,  chosen  marks  for  the  enemy's  bullets,  were 
killed  or  disabled ;  among  the  latter,  Horatio  Gates,  captain 
of  one  of  the  independent  companies,  and  twenty  years  after- 
ward a  general  in  the  revolutionary  army.  The  provincials, 
acquainted  with  the  Indian  method  of  fighting,  alone  made 
any  effectual  resistance.  Washington,  still  weak  from  the 
effects  of  a  recent  fever,  put  himself  at  their  head.  They 
were  the  last  to  leave  the  field,  and  partially  covered  the 
flight  of  the  discomfited  regulars.  Delay  was  thus  given 
for  bringing  off  the  wounded,  but  the  baggage  and  artillery 
were  abandoned  to  the  enemy.  The  English  lost,  in  killed 
and  disabled,  some  seven  hundred  men,  or  more  than  half 
their  force  engaged.  The  loss  of  the  French  and  Indians  did 
not  exceed  sixty.  The  victors,  intent  on  the  spoils  of  the 
field,  pursued  only  a  few  miles,  but  the  flying  troops  did  not 
rally  till  they  reached  the  camp  of  Dunbar,  who  abandoned 
the  expedition,  and,  having  destroyed  all  the  stores  not 
needed  for  immediate  use,  retired  first  to  Cumberland  and 
then  to  Philadelphia. 

Shirley  meanwhile,  with  his  own  and  Pepperell's  regiment, 
lately  enlisted  in  New  England,  and  some  irrregulars  and 
Indians  drawn  from  New  York,  was  on  the  march  from 
Albany  to  Oswego,  where  he  proposed  to  embark  for  Niag- 
ara. He  had  rivers  to  clear,  boats  to  build,  roads  to  cut, 
and  provisions  and  munitions  to  transport  through  the  wild- 
erness. The  army  reached  Oswego  at  last,  but  seriously 
disabled  by  sickness,  and  discouraged  by  the  news  of  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  whose  death  raised  Shirley  to  the  command-in- 
chief,  in  which  he  was  presently  confirmed  by  an  appointment 
from  England.  Two  strong  forts  were  built  at  Oswego. 
vessels  were  prepared,  and  great  preparations  were  made  for 
proceeding  against  Niagara. 


132  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  Assembly  of  New  York  had  already  voted  ,£8000 
toward  the  enlistment,  in  Connecticut,  of  two  thousand  addi- 
tional men,  for  the  Niagara  and  Crown  Point  expeditions. 
After  hearing  of  Braddock's  defeat,  they  raised  four  hundred 
men  of  their  own,  in  addition  to  the  eight  hundred  already  in 
the  field.  Delancey,  though  presently  superceded  in  the 
government  by  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  a  Naval  officer,  still 
retained  a  principal  influence  in  the  administration. 

The  troops  destined  for  the  Crown  Point  expedition,  some 
six  thousand  men,  drawn  from  New  England,  New  Jersey, 
and  New  York,  advancing  under  General  Lyman,  of  Connec- 
ticut, to  the  head  of  boat  navigation  on  the  Hudson,  built 
there  Fort  Lyman,  called  afterward  Fort  Edward.  Johnson 
joined  them  with  the  stores  and  artillery,  assumed  the  com- 
mand, and  advanced  to  Lake  George.  Dieskau,  meanwhile, 
had  ascended  Lake  Champlain  with  two  thousand  men  from 
Montreal,  had  landed  at  South  Bay,  the  southern  extremity 
of  that  lake,  and  had  pushed  on  toward  Fort  Lyman.  When 
quite  near  it,  dreading  its  artillery,  or  for  some  other  cause, 
he  suddenly  changed  his  plan,  and  marched  to  attack  Johnson. 
Informed  of  his  approach,  Johnson  sent  forward  Colonel 
Williams  with  a  thousand  Massachusetts  troops,  and  a  body 
of  Mohawk  Indians  under  Hendrick,  a  famous  chief.  In  a 
narrow  and  rugged  defile,  about  three  miles  from  the  camp, 
this  detachment  encountered  the  whole  of  Dieskau's  army. 
Williams  and  Hendrick  were  slain,  and  their  force  driven 
back  in  confusion.  Williams  had  secured  himself  a  better 
monument  than  any  victory  could  give.  While  passing 
through  Albany  he  had  made  his  will,  leaving  certain  pro- 
perty to  found  a  free  school  for  Western  Massachusetts,  since 
grown  into  "  Williams7  College." 

Following  up  the  defeated  troops,  Dieskau  assaulted  John- 
son's camp.  It  was  protected  on  both  sides  by  impassable 
swamps,  and  in  front  by  a  breastwork  of  fallen  trees.  Some 
cannon  just  brought  up  from  Fort  Edward,  opened  an  unex- 
pected fire,  and  the  assailants  were  presently  driven  back  in 
confusion.  Dieskau,  mortally  wounded,  was  taken  prisoner. 
The  remains  of  his  army  fled  to  Crown  Point.  The  French 
loss  was  estimated  at  a  thousand  men,  the  English  at  three 
hundred. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  133 

A  party  of  New  Hampshire  troops  on  their  way  from  Fort 
Lyman,  encountered  the  baggage  of  Dieskau's  army,  which 
they  captured  after  overpowering  the  guard.  These  three 
actions,  fought  the  same  day,  and  known  as  the  battle  of 
Lake  George,  were  proclaimed  through  the  colonies  as  a  great 
victory,  for  which  Johnson  was  rewarded  with  the  honors  of 
knighthood,  and  a  parliamentary  grant  of  <£5,000.  As  John- 
son had  been  wounded  early  in  the  action,  the  Connecticut 
troops  claimed  the  honor  of  the  victory  for  General  Lyman, 
second  in  command. 

One  of  the  Massachusetts  regiments  distinguished  in  this 
action  was  commanded  by  Timothy  Euggles,  afterward  pres- 
ident of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress.  The  personal  history  of 
Ruggles  serves  to  illustrate  the  simple  manner  of  those 
times.  Son  of  a  minister,  he  had  been  educated  at  Cam- 
bridge, had  studied  law,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  it  in 
Plymouth  and  Barnstable,  with  good  success.  Marrying  the 
widow  of  a  rich  inn-keeper,  he  added  tavern-keeping  to  his 
business  as  a  lawyer.  When  the  war  broke  out,  he  entered 
into  the  military  line,  and  being  a  man  of  energy  and  sense, 
he  served  with  distinction  for  the  next  five  years.  Israel 
Putnam,  afterward  a  revolutionary  major-general,  now  a  cap- 
tain in  one  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  had  already  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  partisan  officer,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  during  the  war. 

Though  re-enforced  from  Massachusetts,  which  colony,  on 
hearing  of  Braddock's  defeat,  had  voted  two  thousand  addi- 
tional troops,  Johnson  made  no  attempt  on  Crown  Point. 
He  even  allowed  the  French  to  establish  and  fortify  them- 
selves at  Ticonderoga.  Under  the  superintendence  of  Gridley, 
who  acted  as  engineer,  Fort  William  Henry  was  built,  near 
the  late  field  of  battle,  at  the  head  of  Lake  George.  The 
New  Engianders  accused  Johnson  of  incapacity;  but  he 
alleged  the  want  of  provisions  and  means  of  transportation 
sufficient  to  justify  active  operations. 

After  having  made  great  preparations  at  Oswego,  heavy 
rains  delayed  Shirley's  embarkation ;  and  finally,  owing  to 
the  approach  of  winter  and  the  scanty  supply  of  provisions, 
the  enterprise  against  Niagara  was  given  over  for  the  season. 
Shirley  left  seven  hundred  men  in  garrison  at  Oswego ;  but 
all  the  colonial  levies,  except  six  hundred  men  to  garrison 
12 


134  HISTORICAL  AND 

Fort  William  Henry,  and  such  troops  as  Massachusetts  kept 
up  at  the  eastward  for  frontier  defense,  were  marched  home 
and  disbanded. 

The  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia, 
uncovered  by  Dunbar's  precipitate  retreat,  were  exposed  to 
war-parties  of  Indians  in  the  French  interest.  The  discon- 
tented Delawares  on  the  northern  borders  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Shawanese  in  the  interior,  availed  themselves  of  this 
crisis  to  commence  hostilities.  Governor  Morris  called  loudly 
for  men  and  money  to  defend  the  frontiers.  The  inhabitants 
of  Philadelphia,  in  an  address  to  the  Assembly,  urged  a  lib- 
eral grant.  Dropping  their  favorite  paper  money  project, 
the  Assembly  voted  a  tax  of  £50,000,  to  be  levied  on  real 
and  personal  estates,  "  not  excepting  those  of  the  proprieta- 
ries " — a  clause,  as  they  well  knew,  as  contrary  as  the  paper 
money,  to  the  governor's  instructions.  If  that  clause  might 
be  omitted,  some  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  proprie- 
tary interest,  offered  to  contribute  £5,000,  the  estimated 
amount  of  the  tax  on  the  proprietary  estates.  But  the  As- 
sembly wishing  to  improve  this  emergency  to  establish  a  pre- 
cedent, dexterously  evaded  the  offer ;  the  governor  stood  out, 
and  the  bill  fell  to  the  ground.  Dunbar's  regulars  advancing 
from  Philadelphia  toward  the  frontier,  afforded  a  temporary 
protection. 

To  furnish  funds  for  defending  their  frontiers,  the  Assem- 
bly of  Virginia  voted  £40,000  in  taxes,  in  anticipation  of 
which  a  new  batch  of  treasury  notes  was  issued.  To  Wash- 
ington, for  his  gallant  behavior  at  Braddock's  defeat,  £300 
were  voted,  with  lesser  gratuities  to  several  of  the  officers, 
and  £5  to  each  of  the  surviving  Virginia  privates  who  re- 
mained in  the  service.  Among  the  officers  thus  distinguished 
were  Captain  Adam  Stephen,  and  Surgeon  Hector  Craig,  the 
one  afterward  a  major-general,  the  other  at  the  head  of  the 
medical  department  of  the  revolutionary  army.  The  Vir- 
ginia regiment  was  reorganized,  and  Washington  again  placed 
at  its  head,  with  Stephen  for  lieutenant-colonel,  undertook 
the  difficult  task  of  repelling  the  Indians,  whose  ravages  now 
extended  as  far  as  Winchester.  The  Assembly  of  Maryland 
granted  £6,000  for  the  defense  of  the  province,  and  an  ad- 
ditional sum  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscription.  A  body 
of  militia  presently  took  the  field  under  Governor  Sharpe, 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  135 

A  violent  dispute  arose  between  Sharpe  and  Dinwidie,  as  to 
the  command  of  Fort  Cumberland.  The  pretensions  of  Dag- 
worthy,  in  the  Maryland  service,  who  had  formerly  bcrne  a 
royal  commission,  and  who  claimed  precedence  on  that  account 
over  all  officers  with  merely  colonial  commissions,  was  another 
source  of  trouble  ;  and  Washington  presently  found  himself 
obliged  to  make  a  winter's  visit  to  Boston,  to  obtain  from 
Shirley  definite  orders  on  that  point. 

The  Quakers  were  still  a  majority  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Assembly,  but  they  could  no  longer  resist  the  loud  cry  to 
arms,  raised  in  Philadelphia  and  re-echoed  from  the  frontiers, 
occasioned  by  Indian  inroads  on  the  Juniata  settlements. 
The  proprietary  party  made  every  effort,  and  not  without 
success,  to  stir  up  the  public  discontent.  After  a  sharp  strug- 
gle with  the  governor,  in  consideration  of  a  voluntary  con- 
tribution by  the  proprietaries  of  .£5,000,  the  Assembly 
consented  to  levy  a  tax  of  ,£55,000,  from  which  the  proprie- 
tary estates  were  exempted.  The  expenditure  of  this  money 
was  specially  intrusted  to  a  joint  committee  of  seven,  of  whom 
a  majority  were  members  of  Assembly,  which  committee  be- 
came the  chief  managers  of  the  war  now  formally  declared 
against  the  Delaware*  and  Shawanese.  Thus  di'iven,  for  the 
first  time,  to  open  participation  in  war,  some  of  the  Quaker 
members  resigned  their  seats  in  the  Assembly.  Others  de- 
clined a  re-election.  The  rule  of  the  Quakers  came  to  an 
end.  But  this  change,  contrary  to  the  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions of  the  proprietaries,  did  not  reconcile  the  quarrel 
between  them  and  the  Assembly.  That  body  insisted  as 
strenuously  as  ever  on  their  right  to  tax  the  proprietary 
estates. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year,  Shirley  met  a  convention  of 
provincial  governors  at  New  York,  to  arrange  plans  for  the 
next  campaign.  Expeditions  against  Fort  Du  Quesne, 
Niagara,  and  Crown  Point  were  agreed  upon,  for  which  twen- 
ty thousand  men  would  be  necessary.  New  York  voted 
seventeen  hundred  men  as  her  quota,  and  issued  <£40,000  in 
paper,  to  support  them.  But  the  New  England  colonies,  ex- 
hausted by  their  late  efforts,  and  disgusted  by  their  ill-success, 
did  not  respond  to  the  expectations  of  Shirley.  Feebly  sup- 
ported in  his  own  province,  the  commandcr-in-chief  was 
fiercely  assailed  by  Johnson  and  Delancey,  who  ascribed  to  his 


136  HISTORICAL  AND 

alleged  want  of  military  experience,  the  ill  success  of  the 
late  expeditions  against  Niagara  and  Crown  Point,  and  whose 
intrigues  presently  procured  his  recall. 

Acts  were  passed  in  Pennsylvania  for  enrolling  a  volunteer 
militia  and  for  raising  rangers  by  enlistment.  Having  heen 
very  active  in  procuring  these  enactments,  Franklin  under- 
took the  military  command  of  the  frontier,  with  the  rank  of 
colonel,  and,  under  his  directions,  along  the  base  of  the  Kit- 
taniny  Mountains,  from  the  Delaware  to  the  Maryland  line, 
a  chain  of  forts  and  block-houses  was  erected,  commanding 
the  most  important  passes,  and  inclosing  the  greater  part  of 
the  settlements.  This  volunteer  militia,  however,  was  far 
from  satisfactory  to  the  proprietary  party,  who  sought  by 
every  means  to  obstruct  it,  and  the  act,  at  the  request  of  the 
proprietaries,  was  presently  set  aside  by  a  royal  veto.  On 
the  other  hand,  some  of  the  sturdier  Quakers  protested 
against  a  tax  for  war  purposes,  and  advised  a  passive  resist- 
ance to  its  collection.  William  Denny,  a  military  officer,  was 
sent  out  to  supersede  Morris,  as  deputy-governor.  (1756.) 

The  proprietary  of  Maryland  having  relinquished  his  claim 
to  the  fines  and  forfeitures,  the  Assembly  granted  £40,000 
principally  in  paper  money.  A  provision  that  papists  shoulo 
pay  double  taxes  toward  the  redemption  of  this  paper,  evinced 
the  still  existing  force  of  sectarian  hostility.  The  lands  and 
manors  of  the  proprietary  were  also  included  among  the  ar- 
ticles taxed.  Fort  Cumberland  was  too  far  in  advance  to  be 
of  any  use,  and  a  new  fort,  called  Frederick,  was  built  at 
that  bend  of  the  Potomac  which  approaches  nearest  the 
Pennsylvania  line. 

Fifteen  hundred  volunteers  and  drafted  militia,  commanded 
by  Washington,  and  scattered  in  forts,  afforded  but  an  imper- 
fect defense  to  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  the  Virginia  Val- 
ley, many  of  whom  abandoned  their  farms.  In  apology  for 
the  small  number  of  these  forces,  Dinwiddie  wrote  to  the 
Board  of  Trade,  "We  dare  not  part  with  any  of  our  white 
men  to  any  distance,  as  we  must  have  a  watchful  eye  over 
our  negro  slaves.7'  Dumas,  the  conqueror  of  Braddock,  in 
command  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  De  Celeron  at  Detroit, 
were  constantly  stimulating  the  Indians.  Du  Quesne  having 
returned  to  the  marine  service,  the  Marquis.de  Vaudreuil  de 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  187 

Cavagnal  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  him  as  governor  of 
New  France. 

The  French  had  all  along  offered  to  treat ;  but  they  de- 
manded, as  a  preliminary,  the  restoration  of  the  merchant 
ships  seized  by  the  English — an  act  which  they  complained 
of  as  piratical.  When  this  was  refused,  they  commissioned 
privateers,  and  threatened  to  invade  England  with  a  fleet 
and  army  collected  at  Brest.  To  guard  against  this  threat- 
ened invasion,  a  body  of  Hessian  and  Hanoverian  troops  was 
received  into  England.  To  excite  the  colonists  to  fresh  ef- 
forts, .£115,000  were  voted  as  a  reimbursement  to  the  prov- 
inces concerned  in  Dieskau's  defeat.  Provision  was  also  made 
for  enlisting  a  royal  American  regiment,  to  be  composed  of 
four  battalions  of  a  thousand  men  each.  A  clause,  afterward 
somewhat  modified,  authorizing  the  appointment  of  seventy 
officers  in  this  regiment,  from  among  the  foreign  Protestants 
settled  and  naturalized  in  America,  gave  great  offense  in  the 
colonies,  as  did  another  clause,  for  the  enlistment  of  indented 
servants,  upon  a  compensation  to  be  paid  to  their  masters  out 
of  the  colony  funds.  All  hopes  of  reconciliation  being  now 
over,  England  formally  declared  war  against  France,  to  which 
the  French  court  presently  responded. 

Vigorous  measures  were,  meanwhile,  in  progress  for  the 
supply  and  re-enforcement  of  Oswego.  Bradstreet,  of  New 
York,  appointed  commissary-general,  employed  in  this  service 
forty  companies  of  boatmen,  each  of  fifty  men.  Under  him, 
Philip  Schuyler  took  his  first  lessons  in  the  art  of  war. 
William  Alexander,  another  native  of  New  York,  known 
afterward  in  the  revolutionary  armies  as  Lord  Sterling,  acted 
as  Shirley's  military  secretary.  By  promises  of  parliament- 
ary reimbursements,  and  the  advance  to  Massachusetts  of 
£30,000  out  of  the  king's  money,  in  his  hands,  Shirley  as- 
sembled at  Albany  seven  thousand  provincials,  chiefly  of 
New  England,  under  the  command  of  General  Winslow. 
The  remains  of  Braddock's  regiments,  ordered  on  the  same 
service,  were  presently  joined  by  two  new  regiments  from 
England,  under  General  Abercrombie,  who  outranked  and 
superseded  Shirley.  But  the  Earl  of  London,  selected  by  the 
British  war  office  as  commander-in-chief,  being  daily  expected, 
Abercrombie  declined  the  responsibility  of  any  forward  move- 
ment. 


138  HISTORICAL  AND 

London  gave  an  early  specimen  of  his  habitual  procrastina- 
tion, by  not  arriving  till  late  in  the  summer.  (July  27, 
1756.)  It  was  then  determined  to  proceed  with  the  bulk  of 
the  army  against  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  while  one 
of  the  regular  regiments  marched  under  General  Webb,  to 
re-enforce  Oswego — a  movement  made  to  late. 

While  the  English  army  lay  idle  at  Albany,  short  of  pro- 
visions, and  suffering  from  the  small-pox,  Montcalm,  Die- 
skau's  successor,  lately  arrived  from  France  with  a  re-enforce- 
ment of  troops,  had  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence,  had  crossed 
Lake  Ontario,  had  landed  near  Oswego  with  a  force  of  five 
thousand  men,  regulars,  Canadian  militia  and  Indians,  and 
had  laid  siege  to  the  forts.  One  of  them  was  abandoned  as 
untenable.  Colonel  Mercer,  the  commanding  officer,  was 
killed.  The  dispirited  troops,  after  a  short  bombardment, 
surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war.  Upward  of  a  thousand  men, 
a  hundred  and  thirty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  a  great  quantity 
of  stores  and  provisions,  and  a  fleet  of  boats  and  small  ves- 
sels, built  the  year  before  for  the  Niagara  expedition,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Montcalm. 

To  please  the  Six  Nations,  who  had  never  been  well  satis- 
fied at  the  existence  of  this  post  in  the  center  of  their  terri- 
tory, the  French  commander,  with  great  policy,  destroyed  the 
forts,  and  by  this  concession  induced  the  Indians  to  take  a 
position  of  neutrality.  The  fall  of  Oswego  occasioned  almost 
as  much  alarm  as  the  defeat  of  Braddock  the  year  before. 
The  British  troops,  on  the  march  under  Webb,  fell  back  with 
terror  and  precipitation  to  Albany.  Orders  were  sent  to  give 
over  the  march  on  Ticonderoga,  and  to  devote  the  efforts  of 
that  army  to  strengthen  Forts  Edward  and  William  Henry. 

As  the  season  advanced  and  their  term  of  service  expired, 
the  provincials  were  disbanded.  The  loss  by  sickness  had 
been  very  severe,  and  many  died  after  their  return.  The 
regulars,  except  small  garrisons  at  Forts  Edward  and  William 
Henry,  went  into  winter  quarters  at  New  York  and  Albany — 
not,  however,  till  they  had  first  been  employed  in  keeping 
the  peace  between  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  As  the 
settlements  approached  each  other,  the  boundary  dispute  be- 
tween those  two  provinces  had  reached  the  extremity  of  riot 
and  bloodshed.  London's  demand  at  New  York  for  gratui- 
tous quarters  for  his  officers  involved  him  in  a  violent 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  139 

quarrel  with  the  citizens,  whom  he  frightened,  at  last,  into 
obedience. 

More  money  being  absolutely  necessary  for  the  defense  of 
the  frontiers,  by  a  sort  of  compromise  between  the  governor 
and  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  £30,000  were  voted,  to 
be  issued  in  paper,  and  redeemed  by  a  ten  years'  continuance 
of  the  lately-expired  excise,  to  be  appropriated  toward  the 
support  of  twenty-five  companies  of  rangers.  Franklin  having 
retired  from  the  military  service,  John  Armstrong — afterward 
a  general  in  the  revolutionary  army — was  commissioned  as 
colonel,  and  soon  distinguished  himself  by  a  successful  ex- 
pedition against  a  hostile  Indian  town  on  the  Alleghany. 
Charles  Mercer,  a  Scotch  physician — afterward  also  a  revolu- 
tionary general — served  in  the  same  expedition  as  captain. 
The  hostile  Indians,  thus  attacked  in  their  own  villages, 
retired  further  to  the  west ;  yet  scalping  parties  occasionally 
penetrated  within  thirty  miles  of  Philadelphia.  Large  pre- 
miums were  offered  by  the  Assembly  for  Indian  prisoners 
and  Indian  scalps.  The  feeling  on  the  frontier  against  the 
Indians  was  very  bitter.  The  Moravian  missionaries,  some 
of  whose  Indian  converts  had  been  seduced  to  join  the  hostile 
parties,  became  objects  of  suspicion.  There  were  those,  how- 
ever, among  the  Quakers,  still  true  to  their  pacific  principles, 
who  insisted,  and  not  entirely  without  reason,  that  the  Dela- 
wares,  so  long  friendly  to  Pennsylvania,  had  not  been  driven 
into  hostilities  except  by  wrongs  and  intrusions  that  ought 
to  be  redressed.  They  formed  an  association,  contributed 
money,  and  opened  a  communication  with  the  Indians  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  about  a  peace.  (1756.)  Two  conferences, 
not  altogether  un successful,  were  held  with  this  intent  at 
Easton.  Sir  William  Johnson  complained,  indeed,  that  the 
Quakers  had  intruded  upon  his  office  of  Indian  agent  and 
sole  negotiator.  Others  alleged  that  by  this  interference 
claims  were  suggested  which,  otherwise,  the  Indians  never 
would  have  thought  of.  It  was  considered  a  great  innovation 
upon  the  usual  course  of  Indian  treaties  when  Tedyuscung, 
the  Delaware  chief,  in  the  second  conference  at  Easton,  had 
for  his  secretary,  Charles  Thompson,  master  of  the  Quaker 
academy  at  Philadelphia,  afterward  secretary  to  the  Contin- 
ental Congress.  In  spite  of  obloquy  heaped  upon  them,  in 
spite  of  accusations  of  partiality  to  the  Indians  and  treachery 


140  .  HISTORICAL  AND 

to  the  white  race,  the  Quakers  persevered ;  and  a  third 
treaty,  held  the  next  year  at  Lancaster,  at  which  delegates 
from  the  Six  Nations  were  also  present,  afforded  a  partial 
relief  to  the  frontier  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Carolinas,  thus  far,  had  escaped  the  ravages  of  war ; 
but  serious  apprehensions  began  to  be  felt  lest  the  Cherokees 
might  be  seduced  from  their  allegiance.  Though  very  ill 
armed,  they  could  muster  three  or  four  thousand  warriors. 
In  a  treaty  held  with  them  early  in  the  war,  Governor  Glen 
had  obtained  an  extensive  cession  in  the  middle  and  upper 
part  of  South  Carolina ;  and  presently,  in  accordance,  as  it 
is  said,  with  long-repeated  solicitations  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  he  built  Fort  Prince  George,  on  one  of  the  head 
streams  of  the  Savannah,  within  gunshot  of  Kee-o-wee,  the 
principal  village  of  the  Lower  Cherokees.  Another  fort,  in 
the  country  of  the  Upper  Cherokees,  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  Tennessee  River,  near  the  south-western  boundary  of 
Virginia,  was  erected  by  a  party  from  that  province,  and 
named  Fort  London,  after  the  commander-in-chief,  who  had 
also  a  commission  as  governor  of  Virginia. 

In  consequence  of  a  violent  dispute  with  the  Assembly,  in 
which  Glen  and  his  council  had  involved  themselves,  no  mili- 
tary supplies  had  hitherto  been  granted  by  South  Carolina. 
This  quarrel  abated  on  the  arrival  of  a  new  governor,  Wil- 
liam H.  Littleton,  a  cadet  of  the  noble  family  of  that  name. 
He  obtained  a  grant  of  .£4000  toward  enlisting  two  compa- 
nies, to  which  a  third  was  presently  added,  as  garrisons  for 
the  forts.  But  the  slave  population  of  South  Carolina  was 
still  more  preponderant  than  in  Virginia.  It  was  no  easy 
matter  to  enlist  men,  and  the  ^province  presently  received 
as  welcome  guests  half  a  battalion  of  the  Royal  Americans, 
with  three  hundred  colonial  levies  from  North  Carolina,  and 
others  from  Virginia.  (1757.) 

The  plan  for  the  next  campaign,  proposed  by  London  at 
the  annual  military  council,  held  this  year  at  Boston,  was 
limited  to  the  defense  of  the  frontiers  and  an  expedition 
against  Louisburg.  To  serve  as  garrisons  for  Forts  William 
Henry  and  Edward,  London  called  on  New  England  for  four 
thousand,  and  on  New  York  and  New  Jersey  for  two  thou- 
sand men.  Governor  Hardy  being  appointed  to  a  naval 
command,  Lieutenant-governor  Delancey  reassumed  the  ad- 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  1-il 

ministration  of  New  York.  The  Assembly  of  New  Jersey 
took  advantage  of  this  occasion  to  put  out  a  new  issue  of 
paper  money.  New  Jersey,  as  well  as  Pennsylvania,  suffered 
from  the  incursions  of  the  Delawares,  against  whom  it  con- 
tinued necessary  to  guard. 

To  aid  in  the  defense  of  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Stanwix 
was  stationed  in  the  interior,  with  five  companies  of  the 
Royal  Americans;  but  this  was  only  granted  on  condition 
that  two  hundred  recruits  should  be  enlisted  for  that  regi- 
ment, to  serve  in  South  Carolina.  The  Pennsylvania  Assem- 
bly, again  yielding,  had  voted  a  levy  of  <£100,000,  without 
insisting  on  their  claim  to  tax  the  proprietary  estates.  But 
they  protested  that  they  did  it  through  compulsion,  and  they 
sent  Franklin  as  their  agent  to  England  to  urge  their  com- 
plaints. The  charter  authorized  the  proprietaries,  their 
deputies,  and  lieutenants,  to  make  laws  "according  to  their 
best  discretion,"  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
freemen.  The  Assembly  took  the  ground  that  the  proprie- 
tary instructions  to  the  deputy  governors,  being  a  restraint 
upon  their  discretion,  were  therefore  illegal  and  void. 

Washington,  with  the  Virginia  levies,  continued  to  watch 
the  frontiers  of  that  province.  But  no  scheme  of  defense 
could  answer  much  purpose,  so  long  as  the  French  held  Fort 
Du  Quesne.  The  defense  of  the  frontiers  thus  provided  for, 
London  sailed  from  New  York  with  six  thousand  regulars, 
including  late  re-inforcements  from  England.  At  Halifax 
he  was  joined  by  the  English  fleet  of  eleven  sail  of  the  line, 
under  Admiral  Holborne,  with  six  thousand  additional  sol- 
diers on  board.  But  Louisburg  was  discovered  to  have  a 
larger  garrison  than  had  been  supposed  ;  and  while  London 
lingered  with  characteristic  indecision,  seventeen  French 
ships  of  the  line  anchored  in  the  harbor,  and  made  attack 
wholly  out  of  the  question.  London  then  re-embarked  his 
forces  and  returned  to  New  York. 


only  had  Shirley  lost  his  military  command  ;  the  ma- 
chinations of  his  enemies  had  deprived  him  of  his  government 
also.  It  was  given  to  Thomas  Pownall,  whose  brother  was 
secretary  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  Pownall  had  first  come  to 
America  with  the  unfortunate  Sir  Danvers  Osborne.  Hold- 
ing a  commission  as  lieutenant  governor  of  New  Jersey,  he 


142  HISTORICAL  AND 

had  been  present  at  the  Albany  Congress,  and  afterward  at 
the  military  convention  at  Alexandria.  Though  he  had  re- 
ceived some  favors  from  Shirley,  he  joined  the  party  against 
him,  and,  having  gone  to  England,  had  obtained  there  the 
government  of  Massachusetts.  Pownall  had  hardly  reached 
the  province,  the  administration  of  which  for  four  months 
past  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  council,  by  the  death  of 
Lieutenant-governor  Phipps,  when  an  express  arrived  from 
Fort  Edward  with  alarming  news  of  a  French  invasion. 

The  British  army  drawn  aside  for  the  futile  attack  on 
Louisburg,  Montcalm,  with  eight  thousand  men,  including 
the  garrisons  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga,  ascended 
Lake  George,  landed  at  its  southern  extremity,  and  laid 
siege  to  Fort  William  Henry.  Colonel  Monroe,  the  English 
officer  in  command,  had  a  garrison  of  two  thousand  men. 
General  Webb  lay  at  Fort  Edward,  only  fourteen  miles 
distant,  with  four  thousand  troops.  Montcalm  pressed  the 
attack  with  vigor.  No  movement  was  made  from  Fort 
Edward  for  Monroe's  relief.  His  ammunition  was  exhaust- 
ed ;  and,  after  a  six  days'  siege,  he  found  himself  obliged 
to  capitulate.  The  garrison  were  to  march  out  with  the 
honors  of  war,  and  were  to  be  protected,  with  their  baggage, 
as  far  as  Fort  Edward.  Montcalm's  Indian  allies,  dissatis- 
fied with  these  terms,  and  greedy  for  plunder,  fell  upon  the 
retreating  and  disarmed  troops.  Monroe,  with  the  greater 
part  of  the  men,  fell  back  to  the  French  camp  to  demand 
protection.  About  six  hundred  fled  into  the  woods,  and  the 
first  who  reached  Fort  Edward  reported  the  massacre  of  the 
others.  Some  few  were  killed  or  never  heard  of;  the  rest 
came  in  one  after  another,  many  having  lost  their  way  and 
suffered  extreme  hardships.  Frye,  the  commander  of  the 
Massachusetts  forces,  after  wandering  about  some  days, 
reached  Fort  Edward  with  no  clothes  but  his  shirt. 

The  fall  of  Fort  William  Henry  occasioned  even  greater 
alarm  than  the  loss  of  Oswego  the  year  before.  Pownall 
appointed  Sir  William  Pepperell  lieutenant  general  of  *Mas- 
sachusetts.  Orders  were  issued  for  calling  out  the  militia, 
and  twenty  thousand  men  were  assembled  in  arms.  Satisfied 
with  having  caused  so  much  terror  and  expense,  Montcalm, 
without  attempting  any  thingr  further,  retired  again  to 
Canada. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  143 

The  arrival  of  Pownall  made  a  considerable  change  in  the 
politics  of  Massachusetts.  By  taking  Otis,  of  Barnstable, 
speaker  of  the  House,  and  other  opponents  of  Shirley,  into 
favor,  according  to  Hutchinson,  who  was  presently  appointed 
lieutenant  governor,  he  disgusted  the  old  friends  of  govern- 
ment, and  greatly  weakened  the  government  party.  Otis 
was  promised  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  his 
son,  a  young  lawyer  of  shining  abilities,  was  appointed  advo- 
cate of  the  Admiralty.  Though  Pownall's  habits  were  rather 
freer  than  suited  the  New  England  standard,  these  conces- 
sions to  the  opposition,  his  frank  manners,  and  liberal  political 
views,  served  to  make  him  very  popular. 

On  the  death  of  the  aged  Belcher,  Pownall  went  to  New 
Jersey  to  assume  authority  as  lieutenant  governor.  But  he 
found  it  impracticable  to  govern  both  provinces  at  the  same 
time.  The  government  of  New  Jersey,  after  remaining 
some  months  in  the  hands  of  the  president  and  council,  was 
transferred  to  Francis  Bernard,  a  practitioner  in  the  English 
ecclesiastical  courts.- 

The  Massachusetts  General  Court  had  provided  barracks 
at  the  castle,  for  such  British  troops  as  might  be  sent  to  the 
province.  But  some  officers  on  the  recruiting  service,  finding 
the  distance  inconvenient,  demanded  to  be  quartered  in  the 
town.  They  insisted  on  the  provisions  of  the  Mutiny  Act ; 
but  the  magistrates  to  whom  they  applied  denied  that  act  to 
be  in  force  in  the  colonies.  London  warmly  espoused  the 
cause  of  his  officers  ;  he  declared  "  that  in  time  of  war  the 
rules  and  customs  of  war  must  govern,"  and  threatened  to 
send  troops  to  Boston  to  enforce  the  demand,  if  not  granted 
within  forty-eight  hours.  To  avoid  this  extremity,  the  Gen- 
eral Court  passed  a  law  of  their  own,  enacting  some  of  the 
principal  provisions  of  the  Mutiny  Act;  and  Loudon,  through 
Pownall's  persuasions,  reluctantly  consented  to  accept  this 
partial  concession.  The  General  Court  did  not  deny  the 
power  of  Parliament  to  quarter  troops  in  America.  Their 
ground  was,  that  the  act,  in  its  terms,  did  not  extend  to  the 
colonies.  A  similar  dispute  occurred  in  South  Carolina, 
where  great  difficulty  was  encountered  in  finding  winter 
quarters  for  the  Royal  Americans. 

The  first  royal  governor  of  Georgia,  and  his  secretary, 
William  Little,  having  involved  themselves  in  a  violent 


144  HISTORICAL  AND 

controversy  with  the  Assembly,  Eeynolds  had  been  superseded 
by  Henry  Ellis,  a  protege  of  the  Earl  of  Halifax,  the  head 
of  an  expedition,  some  nine  years  before,  for  the  discovery 
of  a  northwest  passage.  The  population  of  Georgia  now 
amounted  to  six  thousand.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
Reynolds  had  enlisted  twenty  rangers,  but  the  quarrel  with 
the  Assembly  prevented  any  provision  for  paying  them. 
After  Ellis's  arrival,  the  Assembly  voted  money  for  erecting 
log  forts  at  Savannah,  Augusta,  Ogeechee,  Midway,  and  New 
Inverness.  Ellis  applied  himself  to  the  preservation  of  a 
good  understanding  with  the  neighboring  Creeks  and  the 
Spanish  governor  of  Florida.  The  rangers  were  taken  into 
the  king's  pay,  and  Ellis  obtained  from  Colonel  Bouquet, 
commanding  in  South  Carolina,  a  hundred  provincial  troops 
of  Virginia,  to  be  quartered  in  Savannah.  A  solemn  council 
was  presently  held  with  the  Creeks,  and  a  new  treaty  of 
peace  entered  into  with  that  powerful  confederacy.  A  long 
dispute  had  been  pending,  in  which  the  Creeks  took  a  deep 
interest,  growing  out  of  the  claims  of  Mary,  the  Indian  inter- 
preter, of  whose  services  Oglethorpe  had  availed  himself  on 
his  first  arrival  in  Savannah.  After  the  death  of  her  first 
husband,  she  had  married  a  second  white  man,  and  upon  his 
death,  a  third — no  less  a  person  than  Thomas  Bosoniworth, 
who  had  first  been  Oglethorpe's  agent  for  Indian  affairs,  but 
afterward  had  gone  to  England,  had  obtained  holy  orders, 
and  returned  to  Georgia  as  the  successor  of  the  Wesleys  and 
Whitfield.  The  Creeks  had  made  a  conveyance  to  Mary,  of 
their  reservation  of  the  islands  on  the  coast,  and  the  tract 
just  above  Savannah.  She  also  claimed  a  large  amount  as 
arrears  of  her  salary,  as  colonial  interpreter.  After  a  twelve 
years'  controversy,  which  at  times  had  threatened  an  Indian 
war,  the  matter  was  finally  settled  by  a  compromise,  securing 
to  Mary  and  her  husband  the  title  to  the  island  of  St.  Cath- 
arine's and  the  payment  of  £2000  arrears,  out  of  the  sales  of 
the  other  reserved  lands.  Another  thing  accomplished  by 
Ellis  was  the  division  of  the  colony  into  eight  parishes,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England  by  law,  with  a 
salary  of  <£25  to  each  parish  minister.  (1658.) 

To  the  war  in  America,  and  the  simultaneous  contest 
between  the  English  and  French  East  India  Companies  on  the 
other  side  of  the  globe,  had  been  added  a  military  struggle 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  145 

the  greatest  the  world  had  yet  seen,  carried  on  in  the 
heart  of  Europe.  France  and  Austria,  forgetting  their 
ancient  rivalries,  and  supported  by  Kussia  and  most  of  the 
Germanic  States,  had  united  against  Prussia  and  Hanover. 
The  Hanoverian  army  had  submitted  to  the  disgraceful  capit- 
ulation of  Closter-Seven  ;  that  principality  had  been  occupied 
by  the  French  ;  and  it  required  all  the  energy  and  military 
genius  of  Frederic  of  Prussia,  to  save  him  from  a  similar 
fate. 

In  America,  after  three  campaigns,  and  extraordinary 
efforts  on  the  part  of  the  English,  the  French  still  held  pos- 
session of  almost  all  the  territory  in  dispute.  They  had 
been  expelled,  indeed,  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy ;  but  Louis- 
burg,  commanding  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Crown 
Point  and  Ticonderoga  on  Lake  Champlain,  Frontenac  and 
Niagara  on  Lake  Ontario,  Presque  Isle  on  Lake  Erie,  and 
the  chain  of  posts  thence  to  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  were  still 
in  their  hands.  They  had  expelled  the  English  from  their 
ancient  post  of  Oswego,  had  driven  them  from  Lake  George, 
and  had  compelled  the  Six  Nations  to  a  treaty  of  neutrality. 
A  devastating  Indian  war  was  raging  along  the  whole  north- 
western frontier  of  the  British  colonies.  A  line  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  across  the  Merrimac  and  Connecticut 
to  Fort  Edward  on  the  Hudson,  and  thence  across  the  Mohawk, 
the  Delaware,  and  the  Susquehanna,  to  Fort  Frederic  on  the 
Potomac,  marked  the  exterior  limit  of  the  settlements ;  but 
Indian  scalping  parties  penetrated  into  the  very  center  of 
Massachusetts,  approached  within  a  short  distance  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  kept  Maryland  and  Virginia  in  constant  alarm,: 

13 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Hildreth's  account  of  the  Progress  and  Conclusion  of  the  Fourth  Intercolo- 
nial War — Accession  of  George  III — The  English  masters  of  the  conti- 
nent, north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

WILLIAM  PITT,  afterward  Earl  of  Chatham,  took  adroit 
advantage  of  the  popular  discontent  at  the  ill  success  of  the 
war,  to  force  himself  to  a  chief  seat  in  the  British  cabinet — 
a  station  which  he  owed  more  to  his  energy  and  eloquence 
than  to  court  favor,  or  to  the  influence  of  family  or  party 
connections,  hitherto,  in  England,  the  chief  avenues  to  power. 
Leaving  to  Newcastle,  who  still  acted  as  nominal  head  of  the 
ministry,  the  details  of  the  domestic  administration,  Pitt,  as 
secretary  of  state,  with  the  cipher,  Holderness,  as  his  col- 
league in  that  department,  assumed  to  himself  the  control 
of  foreign  and  colonial  affairs,  and  the  entire  management 
of  the  war.  (1757.) 

Determined  on  a  vigorous  campaign  in  America,  he  ad- 
dressed a  circular  to  the  colonies,  in  which  he  called  for 
twenty  thousand  men,  and  as  many  more  as  could  be  fur- 
nished. The  crown  would  provide  arms,  ammunition,  tents, 
and  provisions ;  the  colonies  were  to  raise,  clothe,  and  pay 
the  levies ;  but  for  all  these  expenses,  Pitt  promised  a  parlia- 
mentary reimbursement — a  promise  which  acted  like  magic. 
Massachusetts  voted  seven  thousand  men,  beside  six  hundred 
maintained  for  frontier  defense.  To  fill  up  this  quota,  sol- 
diers were  drafted  from  the  militia  and  obliged  to  serve. 
The  advances  of  Massachusetts  during  the  year,  were  not  less 
than  a  million  of  dollars.  Individual  Boston  merchants  paid 
taxes  to  the  amount  of  $2,000.  The  tax  on  real  estate 
amounted  to  two  thirds  the  income.  The  insolvencies 
146 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  147 

occasioned  by  the  pressure  of  the  war,  gave  rise  to  a  bank- 
rupt act,  but  this  was  disallowed  in  England.  Connecticut 
voted  five  thousand  men.  New  Hampshire  and  Ehode  Island 
furnished  each  a  regiment  of  five  hundred  men.  The  New 
York  quota  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  men  was  raised 
to  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty.  The  New  Jersey 
regiment  was  enlarged  to  a  thousand.  The  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  appropriated  .£100,000  toward  bringing  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  men  into  the  field.  Virginia  raised 
two  thousand  men.  (1758.) 

To  co-operate  with  these  colonial  levies,  the  Koyal  Ameri- 
cans were  recalled  from  Carolina.  Large  re-enforcements 
of  regulars  were  also  sent  from  England,  made  disposable  by 
a  plan  which  Pitt  had  adopted  for  intrusting  the  local  de- 
fense of  Great  Britain,  to  an  organized  and  active  body  of 
militia*  By  means  of  these  various  arrangements,  Aber- 
crombie,  appointed  commander-in-chief,  found  fifty  thousand 
men  at  his  disposal — a  greater  number  than  the  whole  male 
population  of  New  France.  Of  this  army,  twenty-two  thou- 
sand were  regulars,  including  the  Koyal  Americans ;  the  rest 
were  provincials.  The  total  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Canada  able  to  bear  arms,  did  not  exceed  twenty  thousand ; 
the  regular  troops  were  from  four  to  five  thousand.  As  the 
people  had  been  so  constantly  called  off  to  bear  arms,  culti- 
vation had  been  neglected,  and  Canada  suffered  almost  a 
famine. 

Shirley's  schemes  of  conquest  were  now  renewed.  Louis- 
burg,  Ticonderoga,  and  Fort  Du  Quesne  were  all  to  be  struck 
at  once.  The  first  blow  fell  on  Louisburg.  Boscawen  ap- 
peared before  that  fortress  with  thirty-eight  ships  of  war, 
convoying  from  Halifax  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand  men, 
chiefly  regulars,  under  General  Amherst,  but  including,  also, 
a  strong  detachment  of  New  England  troops.  Louisburg 
was  held  by  a  garrison  of  three  thousand  men ;  eleven  ships 
of  war  lay  in  the  harbor.  But  the  works  were  too  much  out 
of  repair  to  withstand  the  operations  of  a  regular  siege ;  and 
the  garrison,  after  suffering  severe  loss,  found  themselves 
obliged  to  capitulate.  This  capitulation  included  not  Louis- 
burg only,  but  the  islands  of  Cape  Breton,  St.  John's,  (now 
Prince  Edward's,)  and  their  dependencies.  The  garrison  be- 
came prisoners  of  war ;  the  inhabitants,  many  of  them 


148  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

refugees  from  Acadie,  were  shipped  to  France.  Such  was  the 
end  of  the  French  attempts  at  colonization,  in  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  which  now  passed  into  exclusive  English  occupa- 
tion. Amherst  sailed  with  his  army  for  Boston,  and  thence 
marched  to  the  western  frontier. 

While  the  siege  of  Louisburg  was  going  on,  Abercrombie, 
with  sixteen  thousand  men,  embarked  at  Fort  William  Henry 
in  flat  boats  prepared  for  the  purpose,  and,  passing  down 
Lake  George,  landed  near  its  outlet.  The  van,  advancing 
in  some  confusion  through  the  woods,  encountered  a  French 
scouting  party,  which  had  also  lost  its  way,  and  a  skirmish 
ensued,  in  which  fell  Lord  Howe,  -a  young  officer  who  had 
made  himself  very  popular  with  the  provincials,  and  to  whose 
memory,  Massachusetts  erected  a  monument  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

Ticonderoga  was  held  by  some  two  thousand  French  sol- 
d:ers.  As  reinforcements  were  said  to  be  approaching, 
Abercrombie,  without  waiting  for  his  artillery,  rashly  ordered 
an  assault.  The  rear  and  sides  of  the  fort  were  covered  by 
water,  and  the  front  by  a  morass.  The  storming  party  were 
ordered  to  rush  swiftly  through  the  enemy's  fire,  reserving 
their  own  till  they  had  passed  the  breastwork.  But  that 
breastwork  was  nine  feet  high,  much  stronger  than  was  ex- 
pected, and  guarded,  in  addition,  by  trees  felled,  with  their 
tranches  sharpened,  and  pointing  outward  like  so  many  lances 
against  the  assailants.  After  a  four  hours7  struggle,  and  the 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  of  two  thousand  men,  Abercrom- 
bie abandoned  the  attack,  and  the  next  day  made  a  precipi- 
tate and  disorderly  retreat  to  Fort  William  Henry.  Among 
the  woun  led  was  Charles  Lee,  then  a  captain  in  the  British 
service,  afterward  first  major-general  of  the  revolutionary 
army.  In  consequence  of  this  defeat,  Abercrombie  was 
superseded,  and  the  command-in-chief  given  to  Amherst. 

Though  no  further  attempt  was  made  on  Ticonderoga, 
Abercrombie's  forces  were  not  wholly  idle.  With  a  detach- 
ment of  three  thousand  men,  chiefly  provincials  of  New 
York  and  New  England,  Bradstreet  marched  to  Oswego, 
embarked  there  in  vessels  already  provided,  and,  having 
ascended  the  lake,  landed  at  Fort  Frontenac.  That  place 
was  untenable.  The  feeble  garrison,  taken  entirely  by 
surprise,  speedily  surrendered.  Nine  armed  vessels  were 


KE  VOLUTION  ARY  INCIDENTS.  149 

captured ;  and  the  fort,  with  a  large  store  of  provisions,  was 
destroyed.  Bradstreet's  loss  by  the  enemy  was  inconsidera- 
ble ;  but  not  less  than  five  hundred  men  perished  by  sickness. 
These  troops,  on  their  return,  assisted  in  building  Fort  Stan- 
wix,  intermediate  between  Oswego  and  Albany,  on  the  site 
now  occupied  by  the  nourishing  village  of  Borne.  Among 
the  officers  under  Bradstreet  were  Woodhull,  who  fell  nine- 
teen years  afterward  on  Long  Island,  and  Van  Schaick, 
afterward  a  colonel  in  the  New  York  revolutionary  line. 

The  expedition  against  Fort  Da  Quesne  had  been  commit- 
ted to  General  Forbes,  with  an  army  of  seven  thousand  men, 
including  the  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  levies,  the  Eoyal 
Americans  recalled  from  South  Carolina,  and  an  auxiliary 
force  of  Cherokee  Indians.  The  Virginia  troops  were  con- 
centrated at  Cumberland,  and  those  of  Pennsylvania  at 
Raystown,  on  the  south  branch  of  the  Juniata.  Washington 
advised  to  .march  from  Cumberland,  along  the  road  cut  by 
Braddock's  army;  but,  under  the  advice  of  some  Pennsylva- 
nia land  speculators,  Forbes  ordered  a  new  road  to  be  opened 
from  Raystown.  With  a  division  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred men,  Bouquet,  who  commanded  the  advance,  presently 
reached  Loyal  Hanna,  on  the  Kiskiminitas,  the  south  branch 
of  the  Alleghany.  Major  Grant,  with  eight  hundred  men, 
sent  forward  from  Loyal  Hanna  to  reconnoiter,  was  surprised 
and  driven  back,  with  the  loss  of  three  hundred  men,  being 
himself  taken  prisoner.  The  enemy  presently  attacked 
Bouquet  in  his  camp,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  artillery. 
The  obstacles  along  the  new  route  proved  very  serious ;  and 
the  Virginia  Assembly,  in  a  state  of  discouragement,  resolved 
to  withdraw  a  part  of  their  troops.  Forbes  at  last  joined 
Bouquet  with  the  main  body  and  the  heavy  baggage.  But 
the  army,  weakened  by  desertion  and  dispirited  by  sickness, 
was  still  fifty  miles  from  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  separated 
from  it  by  an  immense  forest,  without  a  road.  Winter  also 
was  close  at  hand.  A  council  of  war  advised  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  enterprise ;  but,  before  any  retrograde  motion 
was  made,  three  prisoners,  accidentally  taken,  revealed  the 
feebleness  of  the  enemy.  The  blow  struck  by  Bradstreet  at 
Fort  Frontenac  had  been  felt  on  the  Ohio  in  the  failure  of 
expected  supplies,  and  the  French,  in  consequence,  had  been 
deserted  by  the  greater  part  of  their  Indian  allies.  Inspired 
13* 


150  HISTORICAL  A-ND 

with  fresh  ardor,  and  leaving  baggage  and  artillery  behind, 
the  troops,  in  spite  of  obstacles,  pushed  forward,  at  a  rate, 
however,  of  less  than  ten  miles,a  day.  The  day  before  they 
reached  the  fort,  the  French  garrison,  reduced  to  less  than 
five  hundred  men,  set  fire  to  the  works,  and  retired  down  the 
river.  A  detachment  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  men  was  left 
to  hold  this  important  post,  for  the  possession  of  which  the 
war  had  commenced,  and  which  was  now  named  Fort  Pitt  by 
the  captors.  The  rest  of  the  army  hastened  to  return,  before 
the  setting  in  of  winter.  Fruits  of  this  conquest  were  spee- 
dily realized  in  the  inclination  of  the  neighboring  Indians 
for  peace.  Virginia  and  Maryland  were  now  relieved  from 
Indian  incursions.  Already  a  treaty  had  been  held  at  Easton, 
with  the  Six  Nations  and  their  dependent  tribes,  the  Dela- 
wares  and  others,  by  which  all  existing  difficulties  had  been 
finally  settled,  and  peace  once  more  restored  to  the  frontiers 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Only  the  Eastern  Indians  still  remained  hostile.  To  hold 
them  in  check,  and  to  cut  off  their  communication  with  Can- 
ada, Fort  Pownall  was  presently  built  on  the  Penobscot,  the 
first  permanent  English  occupation  of  that  region. 

The  perseverance  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  triumphed 
at  last.  Tired  of  struggling  on  unpaid — for  they  resolutely 
refused  to  vote  him  -any  salary  unless  he  would  come  to  their 
terms — Governor  Denny  consented  to  a  tax  act  in  which  the 
proprietary  estates  were  included.  The  Assembly  had  indem- 
nified him  against  the  forfeiture  of  the  bond  by  which  he  had 
bound  himself  to  obey  his  instructions,  and  they  rewarded 
this  and  other  compliances  by  liberal  grants  of  salary.  But 
this  violation  of  his  instructions  very  soon  cost  Denny  his 
office.  (1759.) 

Seconded  by  an  eager  Parliament,  Pitt  resolved  to  follow 
up  the  successes  of  the  late  campaign  by  an  attack  on  Can- 
ada— an  intention  communicated,  under  an  oath  of  secrecy, 
to  the  colonial  Assemblies.  Stimulated  by  the  prompt  reim- 
bursement of  their  last  year's  expenses  to  the  amount  of 
near  a  million  of  dollars,  the  Assemblies  acted  with  prompti- 
tude and  energy.  With  the  opening  of  the  spring,  twenty 
thousand  colonial  soldiers  were  again  in  the  field,  ai«d  to 
enable  the  commissariat  department,  which  found  it  difficult 
to  sell  bills  on  the  British  treasury,  to  provide  provisions  for 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  151 

the  troops,  the  Assemblies  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
advanced  a  large  sum  in  paper  money. 

The  plan  now  adopted  for^the  conquest  of  Canada,  was  not 
materially  different  from  that  which  Phipps  and  Warren  had 
successively  failed  to  execute.  Amherst  advanced  by  way 
of  Lake  Champlain  with  twelve  thousand  regulars  and  pro- 
vincials; Wolfe,  a  young  general  who  had  distinguished 
himself  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  having  sailed  early  in  the 
spring  from  England,  escorted  by  a  powerful  fleet,  made  his 
appearance  in  the  St.  Lawrence  with  an  army  of  eight  thou- 
sand regular  troops,  in  three  brigades,  commanded  by  Monc- 
ton,  Townshend,  and  Murray.  The  danger  of  Quebec  caused 
the  withdrawal  of  the  garrisons  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point,  and  both  these  places  soon,  without  any  serious  strug- 
gle, passed  into  Amherst's  hands. 

According  to  the  scheme  of  operations,  Amherst  should 
have  proceeded  down  Lake  Champlain  to  join  Wolfe  before 
Quebec,  or,  at  least,  to  effect  a  diversion  by  attacking  Mon- 
treal; but  the  want  of  vessels 'rendered  this  movement 
impossible.  With  Amherst  was  a  body  of  New  Hampshire 
Kangers,  under  Major  Eogers,  distinguished  as  a  partisan 
officer,  in  whose  corps  served  as  captain,  John  Stark,  a  briga- 
dier afterward  in  the  revolutionary  army.  Two  hundred  of 
these  rangers  were  detached  from  Crown  Point,  against  the 
Indian  village  of  St.  Francis,  whose  inhabitants  had  long 
been  the  terror  of  the  New  England  frontier.  Enriched  by 
plunder  and  the  ransom  of  their  captives,  these  Indians  had 
a  handsome  Catholic  chapel,  with  plate  and  ornaments. 
Their  village  was  adorned  by  numerous  scalps,  trophies  of 
victory,  stretched  on  hoops,  and  elevated  on  poles.  The 
rangers  accomplished  their  march  through  the  woods,  and 
took  the  village  entirely  by  surprise.  A  large  part  of  the 
warriors  were  slain ;  the  village — as  had  happened  so  often  in 
New  England — was  first  plundered,  and  then  burned.  Their 
object  thus  accomplished,  fearing  lest  their  trail  from  Crown 
Point  mighfc  be  watched,  the  victors  attempted  to  return  by 
way  of  Lake  Memphremagog  and  the  Connecticut.  But 
their  provisions  fell  short;  some  perished  for  want  of  food; 
some  were  killed  by  the  pursuing  Indians.  The  greater 
part,  however,  reached,  at  last,  the  uppermost  settlements  on 


152  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  Connecticut,  just  below  Bellows  Falls,  and  thence  made 
good  their  retreat  to  Crown  Point. 

In  pursuance  of  the  original  plan  of  campaign,  a  third 
array,  composed  principally  of  provincials,  and  commanded 
by  General  Prideaux,  had  been  collected  at  Oswego,  for  an 
attack  on  Niagara.  Notwithstanding  the  late  treaty  of  neu- 
trality, the  influence  of  Sir  William  Johnson  had  induced  a 
large  body  of  warriors  of  the  Six  Nations  to  join  this  army. 
After  a  prosperous  voyage  from  Oswego,  Prideaux  landed  at 
Niagara  and  opened  his  batteries,  but  was  soon  killed  by  the 
bursting  of  a  gun,  when  Johnson  succeeded  to  the  chief  com- 
mand. Twelve  hundred  French  regulars,  drawn  from  the 
western  posts,  and  followed  by  an  equal  force  of  Indian 
auxiliaries,  advanced  to  raise  the  siege.  Aware  of  their 
approach,  Johnson  took  an  advantageous  position  in  advance 
of  the  fort.  The  relieving  force  was  totally  routed,  and  a 
large  part  taken  prisoners.  The  fort  surrendered  the  next 
day,  and  six  hundred  men  with  it.  According  to  the  plan 
of  operations,  Johnson  should  have  descended  Lake  Ontario 
to  co-operate  on  the  St.  Lawrence  with  Amherst  and  Wolfe ; 
but  the  want  of  proper  shipping,  the  small  supply  of  provis- 
ions, and  the  incumbrance  of  the  French  prisoners,  prevented 
him  from  doing  so. 

Deprived  thus  of  all  co-operation,  Wolfe  was  left  to  besiege 
Quebec  alone.  Occupying  a  point  of  land  on  the  north  shore 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  protected  on  the  south  by  that  river, 
and  on  the  north  by  the  tributary  stream  of  the  St.  Charles, 
Quebec  consisted  then,  as  now,  of  an  upper  and  a  lower  town, 
both  regularly  fortified.  The  lower  town  was  built  on  a 
narrow  beach  at  the  water's  edge,  above  which  rose  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  an  almost  perpendicular  range  of  lofty 
rocks,  forming  the  river  banks.  On  the  level  of  these 
heights  stretched  a  wide  plain,  on  which  the  upper  town  was 
built.  Overhanging  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  extending  for  a 
great  distance  above  the  town,  the  heights  seemed  to  afford 
on  that  side,  an  almost  impregnable  defense.  Several  float- 
ing batteries  and  armed  vessels  were  moored  in  the  St. 
Charles,  and  beyond  it,  in  a  camp  strongly  intrenched,  and 
covered  by  the  Montmorency,  another  and  larger  river,  which 
enters  the  St.  Lawrence  a  short  distance  below  Quebec,  lay 
Montcalm's  army,  almost  equal  in  numbers  to  that  of  Wolfe, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  153 

but  composed  largely  of  Canadians  and  Indians.  Every 
exertion  had  been  made  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  but  the 
supply  of  provisions  was  very  limited. 

Wolfe  had  landed  on  the  fertile  island  of  Orleans,  just 
below  the  city.  His  naval  superiority  gave  him  full  com- 
mand of  the  river.  After  a  slight  skirmish,  he  gained  pos- 
session of  Point  Levi,  held  by  a  body  of  French  troops,  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  opposite  Quebec,  where 
he  erected  batteries,  which  set  fire  to  and  destroyed  the 
Cathedral  and  many  houses,  but  the  distance  was  too  great 
for  any  effect  on  the  fortifications.  Wolfe  then  landed  on 
the  opposite  bank,  below  the  town,  intending  to  force  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Montmorency,  and  to  bring  Montcalni  to  an  action. 
The  French  were  very  strongly  posted,  and  the  impetuosity 
of  Wolfe's  advanced  party,  which  rushed  to  the  attack  before 
support  was  ready,  obliged  him  to  retire  with  a  loss  of  five 
hundred  men. 

An  attempt  was  then  made  to  destroy  the  French  shipping, 
and  to  alarm  and  draw  out  the  garrison  by  descents  above 
the  town.  One  valuable  magazine  was  destroyed,  a  great 
many  houses  were  burned,  much  plunder  was  made,  but  it 
was  impossible  to  cut  out  the  French  ships.  To  guard  against 
future  attacks,  Montcalni  sent  De  Bougainville  up  the  river 
with  fifteen  hundred  men. 

The  prospect  was  very  discouraging.  The  season  for  ac- 
tion was  fast  passing.  Nothing  had  been  heard  of  the  forces 
designed  to  co-operate  from  the  side  of  New  York,  except 
reports  from  the  enemy,  of  the  retreat  of  Amherst.  Though 
suffering  from  severe  illness,  instead  of  despairing,  Wolfe 
embraced  the  bold  proposal  of  his  principal  officers,  to  scale 
the  Eights  of  Abraham,  and  thus  to  approach  the  city  on 
the  side  where  its  defenses  were  feeblest.  Above  Quebec 
there  was  a  narrow  beach  sufficient  to  afford  a  practicable 
landing  place  ;  but  it  might  easily  be  missed  in  the  dark  ; 
and  the  hights  rose  so  steep  above  it,  that  even  by  daylight 
and  unopposed,  the  ascent  was  a  matter  of  hazard  and  diffi- 
culty. Should  the  French  be  on  their  guard,  repulse  was 
inevitable.  (1759..) 

The  army,  placed  on  ship-board,  moved  up  the  river,  several 
miles  beyond  the  proposed  landing-place.  To  distract  atten- 
tion and  conceal  the  real  design,  a  show  was  made  of 


154:  HISTORICAL  AND 

disembarking  at  several  points.  When  night  had  set  in, 
flat-bottomed  boats,  with  the  soldiers  on  board,  fell  down  the 
river  with  the  tide,  and,  carefully  avoiding  the  French  sen- 
tinels, succeeded  in  finding  the  beach.  The  light  troops  wer 
led  by  Colonel  Howe,  afterward  Sir  William,  and  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  British  armies  in  America,  Assisted  by  the 
rugged  projections  of  the  rocks  and  the  branches  of  trees, 
they  made  their  way  up  the  hights,  and,  having  dispersed 
a  small  force  stationed  there,  covered  the  ascent  of  the  main 
body.  Early  in  the  morning,  the  whole  British  army  ap- 
peared drawn  up  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  To  meet  this 
unexpected  movement,  Montcalm  put  his  troops  in  motion. 
Nothing  now  but  a  victory  could  prevent  a  siege  and  save 
the  city.  He  advanced,  accordingly,  in  order  of  battle. 
Bodies  of  Indians  and  Canadians  in  his  front,  kept  up  an 
irregular  but  galling  fire.  Wolfe  gave  orders  to  disregard 
these  skirmishers,  and  to  await  the  approach  of  the  main 
body.  The  French  had  arrived  within  forty  yards  of  the 
English,  when  their  advance  was  checked  by  a  heavy  fire  of 
musketry  and  grape.  Eight  or  ten  six-pounders,  dragged 
up  the  hights  by  the  seamen,  were  brought  into  line  after 
the  action  began.  The  French  appear  to  have  had  but  two 
small  field-pieces.  The  battle  raged  fiercest  on  the  right  of 
the  English  and  the  left  of  the  French,  where  the  two  gen- 
erals were  respectively  stationed  opposite  each  other.  Though 
already  twice  wounded,  Wolfe  gave  orders  for  the  charge. 
He  fell,  wounded  a  third  time,  and  mortally ;  but  the  grena- 
diers still  advanced.  The  French,  close  pressed  by  the  Eng- 
lish bayonets  and  the  broadswords  of  the  Scotch  Highland 
regiments,  began  to  give  way.  To  complete  their  confusion, 
Montcalm  fell  with  a  mortal  wound.  The  whole  French  line 
was  soon  in  disorder.  Five  hundred  Frenchmen  were  killed ; 
a  thousand,  including  the  wounded,  were  taken  prisoners. 
The  English  loss  amounted  to  six  hundred  killed  and  wound- 
ed. A  part  of  the  dispersed  army  escaped  into  the  town, 
but  the  bulk  of  the  fugitives  retired  across  the  St.  Charles. 
Hardly  was  the  battle  over,  when  De  Bougainville  made  his 
appearance,  marching  hastily  down  the  river.  An  hour  or 
two  sooner,  and  he  might  have  changed  the  fortune  of  the 
day.  As  it  was,  after  collecting  the  fugitives  from  behind 
the  St.  Charles,  he  retired  again  up  the  St.  Lawrence. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  155 

Preparations  for  besieging  the  city  were  commenced  by 
Townsliend,  whom  Wolfe's  death  and  Moncton's  severe  wound 
had  made  commander-in-chief,  but  through  lack  of  provisions 
it  surrendered  on  capitulation,  five  days  after  the  battle — the 
regulars  to  be  sent  to  France,  the  inhabitants  to  be  guaran- 
teed their  property  and  religion.  General  Murray,  with  five 
thousand  men,  was  left  in  garrison.  The  fleet,  with  the  sick 
and  the  French  prisoners,  hastened  to  anticipate  the  approach- 
ing frost  by  retiring  to  Halifax,  where  the  ships  were  to 
winter. 

The  Cherokees,  who  had  accompanied  Forbes  in  his  ex- 
pedition against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  returning  home  along  the 
mountains,  had  involved  themselves  in  quarrels  with  the  back 
settlers  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  in  which  several,  both 
Indians  and  white  men,  had  been  killed.  Some  chiefs,  who 
had  proceeded  to  Charleston  to  arrange  this  dispute,  were 
received  by  Governor  Littleton  in  very  haughty  style,  and 
he  presently  inarched  into  the  Cherokee  country  at  the  head 
of  fifteen  hundred  men,  contributed  by  Virginia  and  the 
Carolinas,  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  murderers  of  the 
English.  He  was  soon  glad,  however,  of  any  apology  for 
retiring.  His  troops  proved  very  insubordinate  ;  the  small- 

?ox  broke  out  among  them ;  and,  having  accepted  twenty-two 
ndian  hostages  as  security  for  peace  and  the  future  delivery 
of  the  murderers,  he  broke  up  his  camp,  and  fell  back  in 
haste  and  confusion.     (Jan.  1760.) 

The  hostages,  including  several  principal  chiefs  and  war- 
riors, were  placed  for  safe  keeping  in  Fort  Prince  George,  at 
the  head  of  the  Savannah.  No  sooner  was  Littleton's  army 
gone,  than  the  Cherokees  attempted  to  entrap  into  their 
power  the  commander  of  that  post,  and,  apprehensive  of  some 
plan  for  the  rescue  of  the  hostages,  he  gave  orders  to  put 
them  in  irons.  They  resisted  ;  and  a  soldier  having  been 
wounded  in  the  struggle,  his  infuriated  companions  fell  upon 
the  prisoners  and  put  them  all  to  death.  Indignant  at  this 
outrage,  the  Cherokees  beleaguered  the  fort,  and  sent  out  war 
parties  in  every  direction,  to  attack  the  frontiers.  The  As- 
sembly of  South  Carolina,  in  great  alarm,  voted  a  thousand 
men,  and  offered  a  premium  of  X25  for  every  Indian  scalp. 
North  Carolina  offered  a  similar  premium,  and  authorized, 
in  addition,  the  holding  of  Indian  captives  as  slaves.  An 


156  HISTORICAL  AND 

express,  asking  assistance,  was  sent  to  General  Amherst,  who 
detached  twelve  hundred  men,  under  Colonel  Montgomery, 
chiefly  Scotch  Highlanders,  lately  stationed  on  the  western 
frontier,  with  orders  to  make  a  dash  at  the  Cherokees,  hut 
to  return  in  season  for  the  next  campaign  against  Canada. 

Promoted  to  the  government  of  Jamaica,  Littleton  had 
resigned  the  administration  of  South  Carolina  to  William 
Bull,  the  lieutenant-governor,  a  native  of  the  province,  whose 
father,  of  the  same  name,  had  formerly  administered  the 
government,  as  president  of  the  council.  Bull,  a  man  of 
talents  and  character,  had  received  at  Leyden  a  medical 
degree — the  first,  or  one  of  the  first,  ever  obtained  by  a 
native  Anglo-American.  With  some  short  intervals,  during 
which  Thomas  Boone,  Lord  Charles  Montague,  and  Lord 
William  Campbell  acted  as  governors,  he  continued,  as  lieu- 
tenant-governor, at  the  head  of  affairs,  till  South  Carolina 
ceased  to  be  a  British  province. 

Joining  his  forces  with  the  provincial  levies,  Montgomery 
entered  the  Cherokee  country,  raised  the  blockade  of  Fort 
Prince  George,  and  ravaged  the  neighboring  district.  March- 
ing then  upon  Etchoe,  the  chief  village  of  the  Middle  Cher- 
okees, within  five  miles  of  that  place  he  encountered  a  large 
body  of  Indians,  strongly  posted  in  a  difficult  defile,  from 
which  they  were  only  driven  after  a  very  severe  struggle ; 
or,  according  to  other  accounts,  Montgomery  was  himself 
repulsed.  At  all  events,  he  retired  to  Charleston,  and,  in 
obedience  to  his  orders,  prepared  to  embark  for  service  at 
the  north.  When  this  determination  became  known,  the 
province  was  thrown  into  the  utmost  consternation.  The 
Assembly  declared  themselves  unable  to  raise  men  to  protect 
the  frontiers ;  and  a  detachment  of  four  hundred  regulars 
was  presently  conceded  to  Bull's  earnest  solicitations. 

During  the  pressure  of  the  war  with  the  Western  Indians, 
as  one  means  of  raising  supplies,  the  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
by  two  or  three  successive  acts,  had  carried  the  five  per  cent, 
standing  duty  on  imported  slaves  as  high  as  twenty  per  cent. 
This  duty  having  "  been  found  very  burdensome  to  the  fair 
purchaser,  a  great  disadvantage  to  the  settlement  and  improve- 
ment of  the  lands  in  the  colony,  introductive  of  many  frauds, 
and  not  to  answer  the  end  thereby  intended,  inasmuch  as 
the  same  prevents  the  importation  of  slaves,  and  thereby 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  157 

lessens  the  fund  arising  from  the  duty/7  it  was  now  reduced 
to  ten  per  cent — a  positive  and  distinct  legislative  assertion, 
notwithstanding  what  Jefferson  has  represented  to  the  con- 
trary, that  Virginia  duty  on  slaves  was  imposed  for  revenue 
only. 

The  proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania,  disgusted  at  Denny's 
faithlessness,  had  prevailed  upon  Hamilton  to  accept  again 
the  office  of  de.puty-governor.  But,  to  obtain  means  for  fur- 
nishing the  quota  of  that  province  toward  the  approaching 
campaign,  he  was  obliged,  like  his  predecessor,  to  consent  to 
a  tax  on  the  proprietary  estates.  Bound  by  the  consent  of 
their  deputy,  though  given  against  their  instruction — for 
such  was  the  constitutional  doctrine  established  in  Pennsyl- 
vania— the  Penns  petitioned  for  the  royal  veto  on  eleven  acts 
which  Denny  had  passed,  including  the  tax  act  above  referred 
to.  Franklin,  as  an  agent  for  the  Assembly  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  proprietaries  on  the  other,  were  heard  by  their  counsel 
before  the  Board  of  Trade.  In  giving  their  decision,  the 
Lords  of  Trade  commented  in  very  severe  terms  on  the  collu- 
sion between  the  Assembly  and  D^nny,  evinced  by  a  grant 
to  the  governor  of  a  distinct  sum  of  money  for  consenting  to 
each  of  these  eleven  obnoxious  acts.  The  other  acts  were 
disallowed  ;  but,  on  the  great  point  of  the  right  to  tax  the 
proprietary  estates,  the  Assembly  triumphed.  The  Board  of 
Trade  required,  indeed,  certain  modifications  of  the  act,  to 
which  Franklin  readily  assented  on  behalf  of  the  province. 
The  Assembly  gave  him  a  vote  of  thanks ;  but  they  hesitated 
in  fulfilling  the  agreement  he  had  made ;  nor  was  it  long 
before  the  dispute  with  the  proprietaries  broke  out  with  more 
violence  than  ever. 

After  the  fall  of  Quebec,  Vaudreuil,  the  governor  general 
of  Canada,  had  concentrated  all  his  forces  at  Montreal,  and, 
during  the  winter,  had  made  every  possible  preparation  for 
attempting  the  recovery  of  the  capital  before  the  garrison 
could  be  relieved.  As  soon  as  the  melting  of  the  ice  would 
permit,  M.  De  Levi  advanced  for  that  purpose  with  ten  thou- 
sand men.  The  English  garrison  had  suffered  during  the 
winter  for  want  of  fresh  provisions.  A  thousand  soldiers  had 
died  of  the  scurvy.  Murray  could  hardly  muster  three  thou- 
sand men  fit  for  duty.  Anxious,  however,  to  avoid  a  siege, 
and  trusting  to  his  superior  discipline,  IIQ  marched  out,  and 
14 


158  HISTORICAL  AND, 

gave  battle  at  Sillery.  He  was  beaten,  however,  with  the 
loss  of  all  his  artillery  and  a  thousand  men,  was  driven  back 
to  Quebec,  and  besieged  there.  Some  ships,  dispatched  from 
England  very  early  in  the  season,  presently  arrived  with 
supplies,  anticipating  not  only  the  French  fleet,  but  the  Eng- 
lish squadron  also  which  had  wintered  at  Halifax.  Alarmed 
at  their  appearance,  and  supposing  that  the  whole  English 
fleet  had  arrived,  M.  De  Levi  gave  over  the  siege,  and  retired 
precipitately  to  Montreal.  Against  this  last  stronghold  of 
the  enemy  all  efforts  were  now  directed.  Anxious  to  com- 
plete the  conquest  of  Canada,  the  Northern  colonies  zealously 
contributed. 

Three  armies  were  soon  in  motion.  Amherst,  at  the  head 
of  ten  thousand  men,  beside  a  thousand  Indians  of  the  Six 
Nations,  led  by  Johnson,  embarked  at  Oswego,  and  sailed 
down  the  lake  and  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal,  where  he 
was  met  by  Murray  with  four  thousand  men  froni  Quebec. 
Haviland  arrived  the  next  day,  with  a  third  army  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain.  The 
force  thus  assembled  was  quite  overwhelming.  Resistance 
was  not  to  be  thought  of.  The  French  governor  signed  a 
capitulation,  by  which  he  gave  up  not  only  Montreal,  but 
Presque  Isle,  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  and  all  the  other  posts  of 
Western  Canada.  The  regular  troops,  about  four  thousand 
men,  were  to  be  sent  to  France.  The  Canadians  were  guar- 
anteed their  property  and  worship. 

Nowhere  was  the  general  joy  of  the  colonies  at  the  conquest 
of  Canada  more  enthusiastically  felt  than  in  New  York,  of 
which  the  northern  and  western  limits  had  so  long  been  in 
dispute  with  the  French.  New  York  had  indeed,  in  those 
directions,  no  definite  boundary,  though  the  Assembly  had 
been  accustomed  to  claim,  by  virtue  of  alleged  cessions  from 
the  Six  Nations,  as  far  north  as  the  outlet  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  the  whole  peninsula  between  Lakes  Ontario  and 
Huron — pretensions  extended,  indeed,  even  to  the  peninsula 
of  Michigan,  and  beyond  it. 

By  the  sudden  death  of  Delancey,  the  administration  of 
New  York  had  devolved  on  Cadwallader  Colden,  who  was 
presently  appointed  lieutenant-governor.  Though  now  upward 
of  seventy  years  of  age,  Colden  continued  in  that  office  for 


KEVOLUTIONTARY  INCIDENTS.  159 

sixteen  years ;  and,  in  consequence  of  the  frequent  absence 
of  the  governors,  was  repeatedly  at  the  head  of  affairs. 

Great,  too,  was  the  exultation  in  New  England,  whose 
eastern  and  northern  frontiers  were  now  finally  delivered 
from  that  scourge  of  Indian  warfare  by  which  they  had  been 
visited  six  timi>s  within  the  preceding  eighty-five  years.  The 
Indians  themselves,  by  these  successive  contests,  had  been 
almost  annihilated.  Most  of  the  hostile  tribes  had  emigrated 
to  Canada,  or  else  were  extinct.  There  remained  only  a 
small  band  of  Penobscots,  on  whom  was  bestowed. a  limited 
reservation,  still  possessed  by  their  degenerate  descendants. 

While  the  northern  colonies  exulted  in  safety,  the  Chero- 
kee war  still  kept  the  frontiers  of  Carolina  in  alarm.  Left 
to  themselves  by  the  withdrawal  of  Montgomery,  the  Upper 
Cherokees  had  beleaguered  Fort  London.  After  living  for 
some  time  on  horse-flesh,  the  garrison,  under  a  promise  of 
safe-conduct  to  the  settlements,  had  been  induced  to  sur- 
render. But  this  promise  was  broken  ;  attacked  on  the  way, 
a  part  were  killed,  and  the  rest  detained  as  prisoners;  after 
which,  the  Indians  directed  all  their  fury  against  the  fron- 
tiers. On  a  new  application,  presently  made  tu  Amherst,  for 
assistance,  the  Highland  regiment,  now  commanded  by  Grant, 
was  ordered  back  to  Carolina.  (1761.) 

New  levies  were  also  made  in  the  province,  and  Grant 
presently  marched  into  the  Cherokee  country  with  two  th  m- 
sand  six  hundred  men.  In  a  second  battle,  near  the  same  spot 
with  the  fight  of  the  previous  year,  the  Indians  were  driven 
back  with  loss.  Etchoe,  with  the  other  villages  of  the  Mid- 
dle Cherokees,  was  plundered  and  burned,  and  all  the  grow- 
ing corn  destroyed.  The  Indians  took  refuge  in  the  defiles 
of  the  mountains,  and,  subdued  and  humbled,  sued  for  peace. 
As  the  condition  on  which  alone  it  would  be  granted,  they 
were  required  to  deliver  up  four  warriors,  to  be  shot  at  the 
head  of  the  army,  or  to  furnish  four  green  Indian  scalps 
within  twenty  days.  A  personal  application  to  Governor 
Bull,  by  an  old  chief,  long  known  for  his  attachment  to  the 
English,  procured  a  relinquishment  of  this  brutal  demand, 
and  peace  was  presently  made,  without  any  further  effusion 
of  blood. 

The  English  arms  were  thus  everywhere  triumphant ;  but 
as  the  French  might  attempt  the  re-conquest  of  Canada,  the 


160  HISTORICAL  AND 

colonies  were  still  required  to  keep  up  their  quotas  at  two- 
thirds  of  the  former  amount.  The  French  officers  in  Canada, 
in  the  course  of  the  war,  had  been  guilty  of  immense  pecu- 
lations. There  was  outstanding,  in  unpaid  bills  on  France, 
and  in  card  or  paper  money,  more  than  twenty  millions  of 
dollars,  a  large  portion  of  it,  as  the  French  court  contended, 
fraudulently  issued.  But  a  very  small  indemnity  was  ever 
obtained  by  the  holders  of  this  paper,  the  payment  of  which 
had  been  suspended  immediately  after  the  capture  of  Quebec. 

Having  obtained  an  appointment  as  governor  of  South 
Carolina,  on  which,  however,  he  never  entered,  after  a  very 
popular  administration,  Pownall  had  been  succeeded  as  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  by  Francis  Bernard,  late  governor 
of  New  Jersey,  where  Thomas  Boone,  and,  on  his  speedy  re- 
moval to  South  Carolina,  Josiah  Hardy  supplied  his  place. 

The  British  merchants  loudly  complained  of  a  trade  car- 
ried on  by  the  northern  colonies,  not  only  with  the  neutral 
ports  of  St.  Thomas  arid  Eustatius,  but  directly  with  the 
French  islands,  under  flags  of  truce  granted  by  the  colonial 
governors  nominally  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  but  in- 
tended, in  fact,  as  mere  covers  for  a  commerce,  whereby  the 
French  fleets,  garrisons,  and  islands  in  the  West  Indies  were 
supplied  with  provisions  and  other  necessaries.  Pitt  had  is- 
sued strict  orders  to  put  a  stop  to  this  trade ;  but  it  was  too 
profitable  to  be  easily  suppressed.  The  colonists,  indeed, 
maintained  that  it  was  policy  to  make  as  much  money  out  of 
the  enemy  as  possible,  and  they  cited  the  example  of  the 
Dutch,  who  had  fought  with  the  Spaniards  and  traded  with 
them  at  the  same  time. 

Bernard,  a  great  stickler  for  the  authority  of  the  mother 
country,  found  an  able  coadjutor  in  Thomas  Hutchinson, 
late  speaker  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives,  and  now  a 
counselor,  whose  zeal  for  the  crown  and  appetite  for  emolu- 
ment, had  been  rewarded  by  the  office  of  judge  of  probate 
for  Suffolk  county,  and,  on  Phipps's  death,  by  the  post  of 
lieutenant-governor,  to  which  was  now  added  the  place  of 
chief  justice,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  Otis,  Hutchin- 
son's  successor  as  speaker,  to  whom  Pownall  had  promised  a 
seat  on  the  bench.  The  strict  enforcement  of  the  acts  of 
trade,  attempted  by  Bernard,  had  provoked  a  strenuous  opposi- 
tion, and  the  custom-house  officers  had  applied  to  the  Superior 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  161 

Court  to  grant  them  writs  of  assistance,  according  to  the 
E  iglish  Exchequer  practice — warrants,  that  is,  to  search, 
wh  in  and  where  they  pleased,  for  smuggled  goods,  and  to 
call  in  the  aid  of  others  to  assist  them.  To  oppose  the  issue 
of  these  writs,  the  merchants  retained  Oxenbridge  Thatcher 
and  James  Otis.  Thatcher  was  a  leading  practitioner  in  Bos- 
ton. Otis,  son  of  the  speaker,  a  young  lawyer  of  brilliant 
talents  and  ardent  temperament,  was  advocate  of  the  Admir- 
alty, and  in  that  capacity  bound  to  argue  for  the  issue  of  the 
writs.  But  he  resigned  his  office,  and  accepted  the  retainer 
of  the  merchants.  Not  content  with  Thatcher's  merely  legal 
and'  technical  objections,  Otis  took  high  ground  as  to  the 
rights  of  the  colonies.  He  assailed  the  acts  of  trade  as  op- 
pressive in  some  instances  and  unconstitutional  in  others,  and 
by  his  vehement  eloquence  gave  a  tone  to  public  sentiment, 
not  without  serious  influence  on  subsequent  events.  The 
writs  were  granted,  but  they  were  so  excessively  unpopular 
as  to  be  seldom  used.  Elected  a  representative  from  Boston, 
Otis  became  a  leading  member  of  the  House,  and  a  warm 
opponent  of  Hutchinson,  whom  he  endeavored  to  exclude 
from  the  council  by  a  bill  declaring  the  places  of  chief  jus- 
tice and  counselor  incompatible  with  each  other.  But  Hutch- 
inson's  influence  was  considerable,  enough  to  defeat  this  bill. 
Another,  which  passed,  requiring  the  oath  of  a  custom-house 
officer  to  justify  the  issue  of  a  writ  of  assistance,  was  rejected 
by  the  governor. 

The  accession  of  the  young  king,  George  III,  though  it 
introduced  some  new  members  into  the  cabinet,  had  made  no 
immediate  change  of  policy.  (1760.)  Canada  conquered, 
the  British  arms  had  been  turned  against  the  French  islands 
in  the  West  Indies.  Guadaloupe  had  been  already  captured. 
(1761.)  General  Moncton,  after  producing  to  the  council  of 
New  York  his  commission  as  governor,  sailed  from  that  port 
with  two  line-of-battle  ships,  a  hundred  transports,  and  twelve 
thousand  regular  and  colonial  troops.  Gates  went  out  with 
him  as  aid-de-camp,  and  carried  to  England  the  news  of  the 
capture  of  Martinique.  Montgomery,  afterward,  as  well 
as  Gates — a  general  of  the  revolutionary  army — held  in 
this  expedition  the  rank  of  captain.  The  colonial  troops 
were  led  bj  General  Lyman.  The  successes  of  Moncton 
were  not  limited  to  Martinique.  Grenada,  St.  Lucie,  and 
14* 


162  HISTORICAL  AND 

St.  Vincent's — every  island,  in  fact,  which  the  French  pos- 
sessed in  the  Caribbee  group,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 

The  French  fleet  was  ruined.  French  merchantmen  were 
driven  from  the  seas.  British  vessels,  including  many  from 
New  York  and  New  England,  acquired  the  carrying  trade, 
not  of  the  conquered  islands  only,  but,  under  safe-conducts 
and  flags  of  truce,  of  the  larger  and  more  wealthy  colony  of 
St.  Domingo.  This  lucrative  commerce,  with  the  profits  of 
privateering  and  of  supplying  provisions  for  the  British  fleets 
and  armies,  made  the  war  very  popular  in  America,  and 
Pitt  an  idol ;  but  that  "  great  Commoner,"  as  he  delighted 
to  be  called,  had  ceased  to  be  minister. 

Charles  III.,  on  whom  the  crown  of  Spain  had  lately 
devolved,  had  never  forgotten  nor  forgiven  a  threat  of  bom- 
bardment by  a  British  admiral,  to  which,  at  a  former  period, 
when  King  of  Naples,  he  had  been  obliged  to  yield.  As 
King  of  Spain,  he  had  signed  with  France  a  treaty  known  as 
the  Family  Compact,  amounting  substantially  to  an  alliance 
offensive  and  defensive.  Pitt  had  secret  information  of  this 
treaty,  and  wished  at  once  to  declare  war  against  Spain.  But 
Pitt  was  an  object  of  jealousy  and  dislike  to  the  young  king, 
desirous  to  secure  for  himself  a  more  active  participation  in 
affairs  than  had  been  enjoyed  by  his  two  predecessors.  The 
ministry  split  on  this  point,  Pitt  retired  from  office,  and  the 
king  hastened  to  raise  to  the  head  of  the  administration  the 
Marquis  of  Bute,  his  late  preceptor.  Yet,  scarcely  had  Pitt 
left  the  ministry,  when  hostilities  commenced  on  the  part  of 
Spain — a  step  which  cost  that  declining  monarchy  dear.  The 
Spanish  colonial  commerce  was  cut  off  by  cruisers,  and  pre- 
sently Havana,  the  key  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  taken  by 
a  British  armament. 

The  present  contest  for  territorial  and  commercial  suprem- 
acy had  extended  even  to  the  East  Indies,  thus,  as  it  were, 
encircling  the  globe.  A  twenty  years7  struggle  in  Hindostan, 
between  the  French  and  English  East  India  Companies,  had 
ended  in  the  complete  triumph  of  the  English,  securing  to 
them  the  dominion  of  the  Carnatic  and  Bengal — the  begin- 
ning of  that  career  of  territorial  aggrandizement  in  India, 
since  so  remarkably  carried  out. 

With  finances  almost  ruined,  powerless  to  struggle  any 
longer  against  such  a  succession  of  losses,  the  French  court 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  163 

was  obliged  to  abandon  tbe  contest,  and  with  it  all  claim  to 
territorial  possessions  on  the  North  American  continent.  The 
island  and  city  of  New  Orleans,  with  all  of  Louisiana  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  were  ceded  to  Spain,  in  consideration  of 
her  losses  in  the  war.  Louisiana,  thus  given  to  the  Span- 
iards, contained  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  The  trans- 
fer was  very  disagreeable  to  them,  and  six  years  elapsed  before 
the  Spanish  actually  took  possession. 

By  the  treaty  of  Fontainebleau,  all  the  vast  region  east  of 
Mississippi,  the  island  of  New  Orleans  excepted,  was  yielded 
up  to  the  British.  Spain  also  ceded  Florida  in  exchange  for 
Havana.  Thus  was  vested  in  the  British  crown,  so  far  as 
the  consent  of  rival  European  claimants  could  give  it,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  whole  eastern  half  of  North  America,  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Polar  Ocean, 
including  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square  miles  upon  which 
the  foot  of  the  white  man  had  never  yet  trod.  By  the  terms 
of  the  treaty,  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  from  it» 
source  to  its  mouth,  was  to  be  free  to  both  parties,  withou. 
liability  to  stoppage,  search,  or  duty. 

Martinique,  Guadaloupe,  and  St.  Lucie,  islands  of  the  Car- 
ribee  group,  which  some  politicians  wished  Great  Britain  to 
retain  instead  of  Canada,  were  restored  to  France  ;  also  her 
former  rights  in  the  Newfoundland  fishery.  Beside  Canada 
and  its  appurtenances,  Great  Britain  received  also  St.  Vin- 
cent's, Dominica,  and  Tobago,  islands  hitherto  called  neutral, 
and  the  two  former  still  possessed  by  the  native  Indian  inhab- 
itants— the  French  and  English  not  having  hitherto  been 
able  to  agree  which  should  be  allowed  to  take  possession  of 
them.  These  islands  were  erected,  by  proclamation,  into  the 
government  of  Grenada.  (1763.) 

The  same  proclamation  erected  on  the  continent  the  three 
new  British  provinces  of  East  Florida,  West  Florida,  and 
Quebec.  East  Florida  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  St. 
Mary's,  the  intervening  region  thence  to  the  Altamaha  being 
annexed  to  Georgia.  The  boundaries  of  West  Florida  were 
the  Appalachicola,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Misssissippi,  Lakes 
Ponchartrain  and  Maurepas ;  and  on  the  north,  the  thirty- 
first  degree  of  north  latitude,  for  which,  however,  was  sub- 
stituted, the  next  year,  a  line  due  east  from  the  mouth  of 


164:  HISTORICAL  AND 

• 

the  Yazoo,  so  as  to  include  the  French  settlements  about 
Natchez.  The  boundary  assigned  to  the  province  of  Quebec 
corresponded  with  the  claims  of  New  York  and  Massachu- 
setts, being  a  line  from  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Nepissing, 
striking  the  St.  Lawrence  at  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  following  tbat  parallel  across  the  foot  of  Lake 
Champlain  to  the  sources  of  the  Connecticut,  and  thence  along 
the  highlands  which  separate  the  waters  flowing  into  the  Sfc. 
Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  sea. 

By  the  same  proclamation,  grants  of  land  were  authorised 
to  the  reduced  officers  and  discharged  soldiers  who  had  served 
during  the  war — five  thousand  acres  each  to  field  officers, 
three  thousand  to  captains,  two  thousand  to  subalterns  and 
staff  officers^  two  hundred  to  non-commissioned  officers,  and 
fifty  to  privates.  To  prevent  the  mischiefs  and  disputes 
which  had  grown  out  of  the  purchase  of  Indian  lands  by  pri- 
vate individuals,  all  such  purchases  within  the  crown  colonies 
were  in  future  to  be  made  only  by  public  treaty,  and  for  the 
use  of  the  crown ;  nor,  except  in  Quebec  and  West  Florida, 
were  any  lands  to  be  taken  up  beyond  the  heads  of  the  rivers 
flowing  into  the  Atlantic.  These  provisions  were  designed  to 
restrain  the  backwoodsmen,  and  to  prevent  Indian  hostilities  ; 
but  already,  before  the  proclamation  had  been  issued,  a  new 
ana  alarming  Indian  war  had  broken  out. 

Since  the  capture  of  Fort  Du  Quesne,  settlers  from  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  and  Virginia  had  poured  over  the  moun- 
tains, very  little  scrupulous  in  their  conduct  toward  the 
Indians,  who  began  to  see  and  feel  the  danger  of  being  soon 
driven  to  new  migrations.  Perhaps,  too,  their  prejudices 
were  influenced — so  at  least  the  colonists  thought — by  the 
arts  of  French  fur  traders,  who  dreaded  the  competition  of 
English  rivals.  The  Dela wares  and  the  Shawnese,  who  had 
lately  migrated  from  Pennsylvania,  and  who  now  occupied 
the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  Scioto,  and  Miami,  seem  to 
have  taken  the  lead  in  a  widespread  confederacy,  of  which 
Pontiac,  a  Shawnese  chief,  is  represented  to  have  been  the 
moving  spirit.  It  included  not  only  the  tribes  lately  the 
allies  of  the  French,  but  the  Senecas  also,  the  most  western 
clan  of  the  Six  Nations.  The  other  five  clans,  though  not 
without  much  difficulty,  were  kept  quiet  by  Sir  William 
Johnson. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  165 

A  simultaneous  attack  was  unexpectedly  made  along  the 
whole  frontier  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  The  English 
traders  scattered  through  the  region  beyond  the  mountains, 
were  plundered  and  slain.  The  posts  between,  the  Ohio  and 
Lake  Erie  were  surprised  and  taken — indeed,  all  the  posts 
in  the  western  country,  except  Niagara,  Detroit,  and  Fort 
Pitt.  The  two  latter  were  closely  blockaded  ;  and  the  troops 
which  Amherst  hastily  sent  forward  to  relieve  them,  did  not 
reach  their  destination  without  some  very  hard  fighting. 

This  sudden  onslaught,  falling  heaviest  on  Pennsylvania, 
excited  the  ferocity  of  the  back  settlers,  chiefly  Presbyterians 
of  Scotch  and  Irish  descent,  having  very  little  in  common 
with  the  mild  spirit  of  the  Quakers.  Well  versed  in  the 
Old  Testament,  the  same  notion  had  obtained  among  them 
current  in  early  times  of  New  England  and  Virginia,  that 
as  the  Israelites  exterminated  the  Canaanites,  so  they  ought 
to  exterminate  the  bloody,  heathen  Indians,  stigmatized  as 
the  children  of  Ham.  Under  this  impression,  and  imagining 
them  to  be  in  correspondence  with  the  hostile  Indians,  some 
settlers  of  Paxton  township  attacked  the  remnant  of  a 
friendly  tribe,  who  were  living  quietly  under  the  guidance 
of  Moravian  missionaries  at  Conestoga,  on  the  Susquehanna. 
All  who  fell  into  their  hands,  men,  women,  and  children, 
were  ruthlessly  murdered.  Those  who  escaped  by  being 
absent,  fled  for  refuge  to  Lancaster,  and  were  placed  for  secu- 
rity in  the  work-house  there.  The  "  Paxton  Boys,"  as  they 
called  themselves,  rushed  into  Lancaster,  broke  open  the 
doors  of  the  work-house,  and  perpetrated  a  new  massacre.  It 
was  in  vain  that  Franklin,  lately  returned  from  Europe, 
denounced  these  murders  in  an  eloquent  and  indignant  pam- 
phlet. Such  was  the  fury  of  the  mob,  including  many  per- 
sons of  respectable  character  and  standing,  that  they  even 
marched  in  arms  to  Philadelphia,  for  the  destruction  of  some 
other  friendly  Indians  who  had  taken  refuge  in  that  city. 
Thus  beset,  these  unhappy  fugitives  attempted  to  escape  to 
New  York,  to  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Sir 
William  Johnson,  the  Indian  agent ;  but  Lieutenant-governor 
Golden  refused  to  allow  them  to  enter  that  province. 

John  Penn,  son  and  presumptive  heir  of  Richard  Ponn, 
one  of  the  joint  proprietors,  had  lately  arrived  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  take  Hamilton's  place  as  governor.  Politics  still 


166  HISTORICAL  AND 

ran  very  high  ;  but,  in  this  emergency,  the  aid  and  advice 
of  Franklin,  the  head  of  the  opposition,  and  speaker  of  the 
Assembly,  were  eagerly  sought.  Owing  to  the  royal  veto 
on  the  late  act  for  a  volunteer  militia,  and  the  repeated  re- 
fusals of  the  Assembly  to  establish  a  compulsive  one,  there 
was  no  organized  military  force  in  the  province,  except  a  few 
regular  troops  in  the  barracks  at  Philadelphia.  By  Frank- 
lin's aid,  a  strong  body  of  volunteers,  for  the  defense  of  the 
city,  was  speedily  enrolled.  When  the  insurgents  approached, 
Franklin  went  out  to  meet  them ;  and,  after  a  long  negocia- 
tion,  and  agreeing  to  allow  them  to  appoint  two  delegates  to 
lay  their  grievances  before  the  Assembly,  they  were  persuaded 
to  disperse  without  further  bloodshed.  So  ended  this  most 
disgraceful  affair.  There  was  no  power  in  the  province  ade- 
quate to  punish  these  outrages.  The  Christian  Indians 
presently  re-established  themselves  high  up  the  eastern 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna.  Five  or  six  years  after,  des- 
tined yet  to  suffer  further  outrages,  they  migrated  to  the 
country  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  settled,  with  their  mis- 
sionaries, in  three  villages  on  the  Muskingum. 

General  Gage,  successor  to  Amherst  as  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  had  called  upon  the 
colonies  for  troops  to  assist  in  subduing  the  Indians.  So 
extensive  was  the  combination,  that  Major  Loftus,  while 
attempting  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  with  four  hundred  men, 
to  take  possessisn  of  the  Illinois  country,  was  attacked  near 
the  present  site  of  Fort  Adams,  and  obliged  to  give  over  the 
enterprise.  New  England,  remote  from  the  seat  of  danger, 
answered  Gage's  call  scantily  and  reluctantly.  Virginia 
furnished  seven  hundred  men,  and  Pennsylvania  one  thou- 
sand. A  pack  of  blood-hounds  was  sent  out  from  England. 
Two  expeditions  were  presently  organized  and  sent  into  the 
Indian  country,  one  under  Bouquet,  by  way  of  Pittsburg,  the 
other,  under  Bradstreet,  along  the  lakes.  The  Indians, 
finding  themselves  thus  vigorously  attacked,  consented  to  a 
treaty,  by  which  they  agreed  to  give  up  all  prisoners,  and  to 
relinquish  all  claim  to  lands  within  gun-shot  of  any  fort,  of 
which,  the  British  were  authorized  to  build  as  many  as  they 
chose.  Indians  committing  murders  on  white  men  were  to 
be  given  up,  to  be  tried  by  a  jury,  half  Indians  and  halt:' 
colonists.  (1764.) 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Condition  of  the  Colonies  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Fourth  Intercolonial 
"War — Theory  of  the  English  Parliament — Grenville's  Scheme  of  Colonial 
Taxation — Passage  and  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 

THAT  war  by  which  the  possession  of  North  America  had 
been  confirmed  to  the  English  crown,  had  not  been  carried 
on  without  great  efforts  and  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  col- 
onists. By  disease  or  the  sword,  thirty  thousand  colonial 
soldiers  had  fallen  in  the  struggle.  An  expense  had  been 
incurred  of  upward  of  sixteen  millions  of  dollars,  of  which 
only  about  five  millions  had  been  reimbursed  by  Parliament. 
Massachusetts  alone  had  kept  from  four  to  seven  thousand 
men  in  the  field,  beside  garrisons,  and  recruits  to  the  regular 
regiments.  These  men,  it  is  true,  served  but  a  few  months 
in  the  year.  At  the  approach  of  winter  they  were  generally 
disbanded,  and  for  every  campaign  a  new  army  had  to  be 
raised.  They  were  fed  at  British  cost ;  yet  in  the  course  of 
the  war  the  expenses  of  Massachusetts,  exclusive  of  all  par- 
liamentary reimbursements,  had  amounted  to  two  millions 
and  a  half  of  dollars,  all  of  which  had  been  raised  without 
resort  to  paper  money,  though  not  without  incurring  a  heavy 
debt  in  addition  to  severe  taxation.  Connecticut,  in  the  same 
period,  expended  not  less  than  two  million  dollars.  The  out- 
standing debt  of  New  York  was  near  a  million.  If  the 
expenditures  of  the  southern  colonies  had  been  less  profuse, 
they  had  far  exceeded  all  former  experience.  Virginia,  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  had  a  debt  of  eight  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  (1763.) 

The  New  England  clergy  complained  that  the  morals  of 
their  parishioners  had  been  corrupted  by  service  in  the 
armies  ;  and  more  disinterested  observers  might  be  willing  to 

167 


168  HISTORICAL  AND 

admit  that  the  reverential  simplicity  of  rural  life,  however 
tinged  by  superstition,  was  ill  exchanged  for  any  liberality 
of  opinions  or  polish  of  manners  to  be  acquired  in  a  camp. 
Tet  the  intermixture  of  troops  from  various  colonies,  must 
have  tended  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  ideas,  and  partially  to 
do  away  with  local  prejudices  ;  while. co-operation  in  a  common 
object,  had  impressed  upon  the  colonial  mind  the  idea  of 
union  and  a  common  interest. 

The  royal  and  proprietary  governors,  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary supplies,  had  been  obliged  to  yield  to  perpetual  encroach- 
ments. The  expenditure  of  the  great  sums  voted  by  the 
Assemblies  had  been  kept,  for  the  most  part,  in  their  own 
hands,  or  those  of  their  specially  appointed  agents;  and, 
contrary  to  what  usually  happens,  executive  influence  had 
been  weakened  instead  of  strengthened  by  the  war,  or  rather, 
had  been  transferred  from  the  governors  to  the  colonial 
Assemblies. 

In  the  prosecution  of  hostilities,  much  of  the  hardest  and 
most  dangerous  service  had  fallen  to  the  share  of  the  colonial 
levies,  employed  especially  as  scouts  and  light  troops.  Though 
exceedingly  disgusted  by  the  superiority  always  assumed  by 
the  British  regular  officers,  and  allowed  them  by  the  rules 
of  the  service,  the  long  continuance  and  splendid  successes 
of  the  war,  had  filled  the  colonies  with  a  martial  spirit,  and 
the  idea  of  martial  force  had  grown  familiar,  as  a  method,  at 
once  expedient  and  glorious,  of  settling  disputed  points  of 
authority  and  right. 

With  colonies  thus  taught  their  strength  and  resources, 
full  of  trained  soldiers,  accustomed  to  extraordinary  efforts 
and  partial  co-operation,  the  British  ministry  now  entered  on 
a  new  struggle — one,  of  which  all  like  former  contests,  were 
but  as  faint  types  and  forerunners.  It  was  proposed  to  main- 
tain in  America  ten  thousand  troops  as  a  peace  establishment, 
nominally  for  the  defense  of  the  colonies ;  perhaps  also,  in 
fact,  as  a  support  to  that  superintending  metropolitan  author- 
ity, of  which  the  weakness  had  been  sensibly  felt  on  various 
occasions  during  the  war.  The  outbreak  of  the  western 
Indians  served,  however,  to  show  that  some  sort  of  a  peace 
establishment  was  really  necessary. 

Four  great  wars  within  seventy  years,  had  overwhelmed 
Great  Britain  with  heavy  debts  and  excessive  taxation.  Her 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  169 

recent  conquests,  so  far  from  relieving  her  embarrassments, 
had  greatly  increased  that  debt,  which  now  amounted  to 
£140,000,000,  near  $700,000,000.  Even  in  the  midst  of 
.the  late  struggle,  in  the  success  of  which  they  had  so  direct 
an  interest,  the  military  contributions  of  the  colonial  Assem- 
blies had  been  sometimes  reluctant  and  capricious,  and  always 
irregular  and  unequal.  They  might,  perhaps,  refuse  to  con- 
tribute at  all  toward  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  of 
which  they  would  naturally  soon  come  to  be  jealous.  It 
seemed  necessary,  therefore,  by  some  exertion  of  metropoli- 
tan authority,  to  extract  from  the  colonies,  for  this  purpose, 
a  regular  and  certain  revenue. 

At  the  very  commencement  of  the  late  war,  the  Board  of 
Trade  had  proposed  a  scheme  of  parliamentary  taxation  for 
the  colonies.  In  the  course  of  the  war,  Pitt  had  intimated 
to  more  than  one  colonial  governor,  that,  "when  it  was  over, 
the  authority  of  Parliament  would  be  exerted  to  draw  from 
America  the  means  for  its  own  defense.  Peace  was  no 
sooner  established,  than  Pitt's  successors  in  the  ministry 
hastened  to  carry  out  the  scheme  thus  foreshadowed. 

That  Parliament  possessed  a  certain  authority  over  the 
colonies,  in  some  respects  super-eminent,  was  admitted  by  all ; 
but  the  exact  limits  of  that  authority  had  never  been  very 
accurately  settled^  As  against  the  royal  prerogative,  the 
colonists  had  been  eager  to  claim  the  benefits  of  English 
law;  not  the  common  law  only,  but  all  statutes,  such  as  the 
Habeas  Corpus  Act,  of  a  remedial  and  popular  character. 
There  were  other  statutes,  however,  the  Mutiny  Act,  for  in- 
stance, from  which  they  sought  to  escape  on  the  ground  of 
non-extension  to  America.  Against  the  interference  of  Par- 
liament in  matters  of  trade,  most  of  the  colonies,  especially 
those  of  New  England,  had  carried  on  a  pertinacious  struggle. 
In  spite,  however,  of  opposition,  that  interference  had  been 
extended  from  the  trade  of  the  colonies  with  foreign  nations 
and  each  other,  to  many  other  matters  but  remotely  connected 
with  it.  By  the  English  post-office  system,  introduced  into 
America,  the  transportation  of  mails  and  the  rates  of  postage 
had  been  regulated.  Parliament  had  interfered  with  the 
colonial  currency,  establishing  the  standard  in  coin,  and  re- 
stricting the  issue  of  paper  notes.  Joint-stock  companies,, 
with  more  than  ^  certain  number  of  partners,  had  been 
15 


170  HISTORICAL  AND 

prohibited.  The  collection  of  debts  had  been  regulated.  A 
uniform  law  of  naturalization  had  been  established.  Parlia- 
ment had  prohibited  or  restricted  certain  trades  and  manu- 
factures, and  had  even  assumed  to  legislate  respecting  the 
administration  of  oaths.  All  or  most  of  these  exertions  of 
authority  had  been  protested  against  at  the  time ;  but  the 
colonists  had  yielded  at  last,  and  the  power  of  regulating 
colonial  trade  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  the  mother  country, 
exercised  for  two  or  three  generations,  and  sustained  by  a 
system  of  custom-house  officers  and  Admiralty  courts,  had 
acquired,  in  spite  of  unpopularity  and  a  systematic  evasion 
still  extensively  practiced,  the  character  and  attributes  of  a 
legal  vested  right.  (1763.) 

The  super-eminent  power  of  all,  that  of  levying  taxes  for 
revenue,  Parliament  had  never  exercised.  The  rates  of  post- 
age, of  which  the  payment  was  voluntary,  might  be  con- 
sidered not  so  much  a  tax  as  an  equivalent  for  services 
rendered.  The  intercolonial  duties  on  "  enumerated  articles/7 
producing  little  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  custom-houses,  had  for  their  professed  object,  not  revenue, 
but  the  regulation  of  trade.  The  trifling  surplus  paid  into 
the  British  treasury  was  but  a  mere  incident  to  that  regula- 
tion. Yet  the  colonial  custom-houses,  though  hitherto  main- 
tained with  no  intention  of  collecting  taxes,  might  easily  be 
adapted  to  that  purpose ;  and,  as  the  colonists  were  already 
accustomed  to  the  payment  of  parliamentary  duties,  they 
might  not  readily  distinguish  between  duties  for  regulation 
and  duties  for  revenue. 

A  part  of  the  new  scheme,  as  suggested  to  Parliament  by 
Lord  Grenville,  Bute's  chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  appears 
to  have  proceeded  on  this  idea.  In  spite  of  recent  vigilance 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  acts  of  trade,  the  Molasses  Act  was 
still  extensively  evaded.  By  reducing  the  duties  exacted 
under  that  act,  now  about  to  expire,  Grenville  proposed  to 
diminish  the  temptation  to  smuggle  ;  and,  while  seeming  thus 
to  confer  a  boon  on  the  colonies,  by  opening  to  them,  under 
moderated  duties,  the  trade  with  the  foreign  sugar  islands, 
by  the  same  process,  to  convert  the  Molasses  Act  from  a  mere 
regulation  of  trade,  into  a  source  of  revenue,  to  be  enhanced 
by  duties  on  other  foreign  products.  Had  the  proposition 
stopped  here,  there  might  have  been  some  chance  of  gradually 


KEVOLUTIO.YARY  INCIDENTS.  171 

forcing  on  the  colonies  the  practice  of  parliamentary  taxation. 
But  the  amount  which  could  thus  be  raised  would  not  suffice 
for  the  object  in  view,  and  Grenville  proposed,  in  addition,  a 
stamp  tax — an  impost,  in  several  respects,  much  like  those 
of  the  custom-house,  and  very  like  them  in  facility  of  collec- 
tion. ,A11  bills,  bonds,  notes,  leases,  policies  of  insurance, 
papers  used  in  legal  proceedings,  and  a  great  many  other 
documents,  in  order  to  be  held  valid  in  courts  of  law,  were 
to  be  written  on  stamped  paper,  sold  by  public  officers  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  at  prices  which  levied  a  stated  tax 
on  every  such  document.  Stamp  duties,  said  to  be  an  inven- 
tion of  the  Dutch,  though  long  familiar  in  England,  were 
as  yet  almost  unknown  in  America,  where  only  one  or  two 
colonies  had  made  some  slight  trial  of  them. 

Shortly  after  the  final  treaty  of  peace,  Grenville  laid  this 
plan  before  Parliament,  not  for  immediate  action,  but  by 
way  of  information  and  notice.  The  colonial  agents,  or  some 
of  them,  wrote  to  America  for  instructions,  but  the  public 
mind  was  engrossed  by  the  sudden  renewal  of  the  war  on  the 
western  frontier,  and  Grenville's  proposition  hardly  attracted 
so  much  attention  as  might  have  been  expected.  The  As- 
sembly of  Pennsylvania  was  content  with  simply  stating  a 
willingness  "to  aid  the  crown  according  to  their  ability, 
whenever  required  in  the  usual  constitutional  manner." 
They  even  proposed  to  forward  a  plan  by  which  all  the  colo- 
nies might  be  made  to  contribute  fairly  and  equitably  to  the 
public  defense ;  but  that  idea  they  soon  abandoned. 

Bollan,  so  long  the  agent  of  Massachusetts,  had  been  lately 
dismissed,  and  the  place  given  to  Jasper  Manduit,  whose 
letters,  containing  an  account  of  Grenville's  proposals,  were 
laid  before  the  General  Court  at  an  adjourned  session.  There 
seems  at  this  moment  to  have  been  a  lull  in  the  politics  of 
that  province.  The  excitement  growing  out  of  the  question 
of  writs  of  assistance  had  subsided.  Hutchinson,  who  still 
sat  in  the  council,  in  spite  of  Otis's  attempt  to  exclude  him, 
had  a  principal  hand  in  drawing  up  the  instructions  to  the 
agent.  They  suggested,  indeed,  the  right  of  the  colonists  to 
tax  themselves,  but  in  a  very  moderate  tone.  It  was  even 
voted  to  send  Hutchinson  as  a  special  agent  to  England ;  but 
this  was  prevented  by  Governor  Bernard, who  thought  it  irregu- 
lar for  the  lieutenant-governor  to  be  absent  from  the  province. 


172  HISTORICAL  AND 

At  the  next  session  of  Parliament,  Grenville,  now  prime 
minister,  brought  forward  his  scheme  of  taxation  in  a  more 
formal  shape.  After  a  debate  which  excited  very  little 
interest  or  attention,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved,  without 
a  division,  "  that  Parliament  had  a  right  to  tax  the  colonies," 
and  they  recommended  such  a  stamp  act  as  the  minister  had 
proposed. 

Further  action  as  to  this  stamp  tax  was,  however,  delayed, 
to  give  the  colonists  an  opportunity  for  suggesting,  if  they 
chose,  some  more  satisfactory  means  for  raising  the  half  mil- 
lion of  dollars  which  the  minister  required.  The.  other  part 
of  the  ministerial  scheme  was  at  once  carried  out  by  a  law 
known  as  the  "  Sugar  Act,"  reducing  by  one  half,  the  duties 
imposed  by  the  old  Molasses  Act  on  foreign  sugar  and  molasses 
imported  into  the  colonies  ;  levying  duties  on  coffee,  pimento, 
French  and  East  India  goods,  and  wines  from  Madeira  and  the 
Azores,  which  hitherto  had  been  free  ;  and  adding  iron  and 
lumber  to  the  list  of  "  enumerated  articles,"  which  could  not 
be  exported,  except  to  England.  Openly  avowing  in  its  pre- 
amble the  purpose  of  "  raising  a  revenue  for  defraying  the 
expenses  of  defending,  protecting,  and  securing  his  majesty's 
dominions  in  America,"  this  act  gave  increased  jurisdiction 
to  the  colonial  Admiralty  courts,  and  provided  new  and  more 
efficient  means  for  enforcing  the  collection  of  the  revenue. 

Partial  accounts  of  these  proceedings  having  reached  Mas- 
sachusetts previous  to  the  annual  election,  the  town  of  Boston 
took  occasion  to  instruct  its  newly-chosen  representatives  to 
use  all  their  efforts  against  the  pending  plan  of  parliament 
taxation,  and  for  the  repeal  of  any  such  acts  already  passed. 
These  instructions,  drafted  by  Samuel  Adams,  contained  the 
first  decided  protest  against  Grenville's  scheme.  Among 
other  things,  they  suggested  the  expediency  of  a  combination 
of  all  the  colonies  for  the  defense  of  their  common  interests. 

At  the  session  which  speedily  followed,  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives resolved,  "  that  the  imposition  of  duties  and 
taxes  by  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  upon  a  people  not 
represented  in  the  House  of  Commons,  is  absolutely  irrecon- 
cilable with  their  rights."  A  pamphlet,  lately  published  by 
Otis,  "  The  Rights  of  the  British  Colonies  asserted,"  was 
read  and  approved.  A  copy  was  transmitted  to  the  agent  in 
England,  and  along  with  it  an  energetic  letter.  "  The  silence 


REVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  173 

of  the  province,"  said  this  letter,  alluding  to  a  suggestion  of 
the  agent,  that  he  had  taken  silence  for  consent,  "  should 
have  been  imputed  to  any  cause — even  to  despair — rather 
than  be  construed  into  a  tacit  cession  of  their  rights,  or  the 
acknowledgment  of  a  right  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain 
to  impose  duties  and  taxes  on  a  people  who  are  not  rep- 
resented in  the  House  of  Commons."  "  If  we  are  not 
represented,  we  are  slaves !" 

Following  up  the  suggestions  of  the  Boston  instructions,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  correspond,  during  the  recess, 
with  the  Assemblies  of  the  other  colonies. 

These  energetic  measures,  warmly  supported  by  Thatcher 
and  Otis,  were  adopted  just  at  the  close  of  the  session,  and 
in  Hutchinson's  absence.  The  concurrence  of  the  council  was 
not  asked.  Not  that  any  open  advocates  for  parliamentary 
taxation  were  to  be  found  in  that  body ;  even  Governor  Ber- 
nard avowed  his  opposition,  at  least,  to  the  proposed  Stamp 
Act ;  but  the  council,  for  years  past  very  much  under  Hiitch- 
inson's  influence,  was  composed  of  wealthy  and  moderate 
men,  who  might  not  choose  to  venture^  on  so  vigorous  a 
remonstrance. 

Otis's  pamphlet  on  colonial  rights  conceded  to  Parliament 
a  superintending  power  to  enact  laws  and  regulations  for  the 
public  good — a  power  limited,  however,  by  the  "natural 
rights  of  man,"  and  "  the  constitutional  rights  of  British 
subjects,"  claimed  as  the  birthright  of  all  born  in  the  colo- 
nies. It  was  maintained  as  one  of  these  rights,  that  taxes 
could  not  be  levied  on  the  people,  "but  by  their  consent  in 
person  or  by  deputation."  The  distinction  was  scouted  be- 
tween external  and  internal  taxes,  meaning  in  the  one  case, 
taxes  on  trade,  and  in  the  other,  taxes  on  land  and  personal 
property.  If  trade  might  be  taxed  without  the  consent  of 
the  colonists,  so  might  land  and  houses.  Taxes  of  either 
kind  were  pronounced  "  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  the 
rights  of  the  colonists  as  British  subjects  and  as  men."  Yet 
nothing  like  forcible  resistance  was  hinted  at.  "  There 
would  be  an  end  to  all  governments,  if  one,  or  a  number  of 
subjects  or  subordinate  provinces,  should  take  upon  them  so 
far  to  judge  of  the  justice  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  as  to 
refuse  obedience  to  it."  "Forcibly  resisting  the  Parliament 
and  the  king's  laws  is  high  treason."  "  Therefore  let  the 
15* 


174  HISTORICAL  AND 

Parliament  lay  what  burdens  they  please  on  us,  we  must, 
it  is  our  duty  to  submit,  and  patiently  bear  them  till  they 
will  be  pleased  to  relieve  us."  Such,  at  this  moment,  were 
the  public  professions,  and  most  probably  the  private  opinions 
of  the  strongest  advocates  of  the  rights  of  the  colonists — at 
least  of  those  who  had  been  bred,  like  Otis,  to  the  profession 
of  the  law.  But  this  doctrine  of  patient  submission  to  injus- 
tice, was  not  of  a  sort  to  go  down  in  America. 

Thatcher  also  published  a  tract  against  the  scheme  of  par- 
liamentary taxation,  and  similar  tracts  were  put  forth  in 
Ehode  Island  "by  authority;"  in  Maryland  by  Dulany,  sec- 
retary of  the  province  ;  and  in  Virginia  by  Bland,  a  leading 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 

The  opposition  of  Massachusetts  to  the  new  "  Sugar  Act," 
was  presently  re-echoed  from  Pennsylvania,  and  strong  in- 
structions to  oppose  the  whole  scheme  of  taxation  were  given 
to  Franklinr  about  to  depart  for  England  as  the  agent  for 
the  colony,  to  solicit  the  overthrow  of  the  proprietary  govern- 
ment. 

At  the  adjourned  session  of  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  the  powerful  influence  of  Hutchinson  again  became 
obvious.  The  House  adopted  a  strong  petition  to  Parlia- 
ment, drawn  by  a  committee  of  which  Otis  was  chairman. 
The  council  refused  to  concur.  A  joint  committee  then  ap- 
pointed, reported  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons,  drafted 
by  Hutchinson,  and  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of  the  more  ardent 
patriots.  Yet,  after  some  alterations,  it  was.  adopted  by  the 
Court.  A  letter  to  the  agent,  in  a  somewhat  more  decided 
tone,  spoke  of  self-taxation  as  the  right  of  the  colony,  not 
as  a  mere  usage  and  favor,  in  which  light  the  petition  seemed 
to  regard  it. 

Connecticut,  following  in  the  steps  of  Massachusetts, 
adopted  the  same  moderate  tone.  The  Assembly  of  New 
York  agreed  to  a  petition  much  more  strongly  expressed — 
so  strongly,  that  no  member  of  Parliament  could  be  found  to 
present  it.  This  petition,  adopted  and  re-echoed  by  Rhode 
island,  made  the  Massachusetts  leaders  still  more  dissatisfied 
with  the  tameness  of  theirs. 

In  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  Peyton  Randolph,  the 
attorney-general,  conspicuous  formerly  in  the  controversy 
with  Dinwiddie,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  son  of  a  former  president 


EEVOLUTIONABY  INCIDENTS.  175 

of  the  council,  George  Wythe,  and  Edmund  Pcndleton,  all 
distinguished  lawyers  and  leaders  of  the  colonial  aristocracy, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  petition  to  the  king, 
a  memorial  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  a  remonstrance  to  the 
Commons.  These  papers  claimed  for  the  colony,  the  priv- 
ilege of  self-taxation  ;  but  their  tone  was  very  moderate. 
Instead  of  relying  on  the  matter  of  right,  they  dwelt  at 
length  on  the  embarassments  and  poverty  of  the  province, 
encumbered  by  the  late  war  with  a  heavy  debt. 

These  faint  protestations  produced  no  effect  on  the  made 
up  minds  of  the  British  ministers.  In  spite  of  remonstrances 
addressed  to  Grenville  by  Franklin,  Jackson,  the  newly-ap- 
pointed agent  of  Massachusetts,  Ingersoll,  the  agent  for 
Connecticut,  and  other  gentlemen  interested  in  the  colonies, 
a  bill  for  collecting  a  stamp  tax  in  America  was  presently 
brought  in.  The  London  merchants  concerned  in  the  Amer- 
ican trade  petitioned  against  it ;  but  a  convenient  rule  not  to 
receive  petitions  against  money  bills,  excluded  this  as  well  as 
those  from  the  colonial  Assemblies.  In  reply  to  Colonel 
Barre,  who  had  served  in  America,  and  who  made  a  speech 
against  the  bill,  Townshend,  one  of  the  ministers,  spoke  of 
the  colonists  as  "  children,  planted  by  our  care,  nourished  by 
our  indulgence,  and  protected  by  our  arms."  Barre's  indig- 
nant retort  produced  a  great  sensation  in  the  House.  "  They 
planted  by  your  care  ?  No  ;  your  oppressions  planted  them 
in  America."  '"  They  nourished  by  your  indulgence  ?  They 
grew  up  by  your  neglect  of  them.77  "  They  protected  by 
your  arms?  Those  sons  of  liberty  have  nobly  taken  up 
arms  in  your  defense.  I  claim  to  know  more  of  America 
than  most  of  you,  having  been  resident  in  that  country. 
The  people,  I  believe,  are  as  truly  loyal  subjects  as  the  king 
has,  but  a  people  jealous  of  their  liberties,  and  who  will  vin- 
dicate them,  should  they  ever  be  violated.  But  the  subject 
is  too  delicate ;  I  will  say  no  more.'7  Barre  placed  his  oppo- 
sition on  the  ground  of  expediency ;  General  Conway,  and 
Alderman  Beckford,  one  of  the  London  members,  denounced 
the  bill  as  unjust.  It  passed,  however,  in  the  Commons,  five 
to  one  ;  in  the  Lords  there  was  no  division  nor  the  slightest 
opposition.  (1765.) 

A  clause  inserted  into  the  annual  Mutiny  Act,  carried  out 
another  part  of  the  ministerial  scheme,  by  authorizing  as 


176  HISTORICAL  AND 

many  troops  to  be  sent  to  America  as  the  ministers  saw  fit. 
For  these  troops,  by  a  special  enactment,  known  as  "  the 
Quartering  Act,"  the  colonies  in  which  they  might  be  sta- 
tioned, were  required  to  find  quarters,  fire-wood,  bedding, 
drink,  soap,  and  candles. 

News  of  the  passage  of  these  acts,  reached  Virginia  while 
the  Assembly  was  sitting.  The  aristocratic  leaders  in  that 
body  hesitated.  The  session  approached  its  close,  and  not 
one  word  seemed  likely  to  be  said.  But  the  rights  of  the 
colonies  did  not  fail  of  an  advocate.  Patrick  Henry  had 
already  attracted  the  attention  of  the  House,  by  his  suc- 
cessful opposition  to  Robinson's  proposed  paper  money 
loan,  as  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter.  Finding  the 
older  and  more  weighty  members  unlikely  to  move,  he 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  introducing  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, which  claimed  for  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia  all  the 
rights  of  born  British  subjects;  denied  any  authority  any- 
where, except  in  the  provincial  Assembly,  to  impose  taxes 
upon  them  ;  and  denounced  the  attempt  to  vest  that  authori- 
ty elsewhere,  as  inconsistent  with  the  ancient  Constitution, 
and  subversive  of  British  as  well  as  of  American  liberty. 
Upon  the  introduction  of  these  resolutions,  a  hot  debate  en- 
sued. "  Caesar  had  his  Brutus/'  said  Henry,  "  Charles  I.  his 
Cromwell,  and  George  III. — "  "  Treason  !  treason  !"  shouted 
the  speaker,  and  the  cry  was  re-echoed  from  the  House. 
"  George  III.,"  said  Henry,  firmly,  "  may  profit  by  their  ex- 
ample. If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it!"  In  spite 
of  the  opposition  of  all  the  old  leaders,  the  resolutions  passed, 
the  fifth  and  most  emphatic,  by  a  majority  of  only  one  vote. 
The  next  day,  in  Henry's  absence,  the  resolutions  were  recon- 
sidered, softened,  and  the  fifth  struck  out.  But  a  manuscript 
copy  had  already  been  sent  to  Philadelphia ;  and,  circulating 
through  the  colonies  in  their  original  form,  these  resolutions 
gave  everywhere  a  strong  impulse  to  the  popular  feeling. 

Before  these  Virginia  resolutions  reached  Massachusetts, 
the  General  Court  had  met,  at  its  annual  session.  Consider- 
ing "  the  many  difficulties  to  which  the  colonies  are,  and 
must  be  reduced  by  the  operation  of  some  late  acts  of  Par- 
liament," the  House  of  Eepresentatives  appointed  a  commit- 
tee of  nine,  to  consider  what  steps  the  emergency  demanded. 
That  committee  recommended  a  convention  or  congress,  to  be 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  177 

omposod  of  "  committees  from  the  Houses  of  Representa- 
tives or  Burgesses  in  the  several  colonies."  to  meet  at  New 
York  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  October  following,  there  to  con- 
sult "  on  the  difficulties  in  which  the  colonies  were,  and  must 
be  placed  by  the  late  acts  of  Parliament  levying  duties  and 
taxes  upon  them ;"  and,  further,  "  to  consider  of  a  general 
and  humble  address  to  his  majesty  and  the  Parliament,  to 
implore  relief/'  Even  the  partisans  of  Bernard  judged  it 
best  to  concur  in  the  adoption  of  this  report ;  and  they  con- 
gratulated themselves  that  Buggies  and  Partridge,  two  of 
the  committee  appointed  to  represent  Massachusetts  at  the 
congress,  were  "prudent  and  discreet  men,  fast  friends  of 
government."  The  third  was  James  Otis.  A  circular  let- 
ter, addressed  to  all  the  other  colonies,  recommended  similar 
"-appointments.  Governor  Fitch  arid  a  majority  of  the  Con- 
necticut assistants,  seemed  inclined  to  submit  to  the  Stamp 
Act,  but  Trumbull  and  others  loudly  protested  against  it,  and 
the  popular  feeling  was  all  on  their  side. 

The  stamps  were  to  be  prepared  in  Great  Britain,  and  sent 
to  officers  in  the  colonies,  appointed  to  sell  them.  Anxious 
to  make  this  unpopular  measure  as  palatable  as  possible,  the 
colonial  agents  were  consulted  as  to  the  persons  fit  to  be  ap- 
pointed. So  little  did  even  Franklin  foresee  the  result,  that 
he  procured  that  office  at  Philadelphia  for  one  of  his  particu- 
lar friends  and  supporters.  He  also  advised  Ingersoll, 
the  Connecticut  agent,  to  accept  that  appointment  for  his 
own  colony. 

Before  the  stamps  reached  America,  symptoms  of  a  violent 
ferment  appeared.  A  great  elm  in  Boston,  at  the  corner  of 
the  present  Washington  and  Essex  Streets,  under  which  the 
opponents  of  the  Stamp  Act  were  accustomed  to  assemble, 
.  soon  became  famous  as  "  liberty  tree."  Those  persons  sup- 
posed to  favor  the  ministry  were  hung  in  effigy  on  the 
branches  of  this  elm.  A  mob  attacked  the  house  of  Oliver, 
secretary  of  the  colony,  who  had  been  appointed  stamp  dis- 
tributor for  Massachusetts,  broke  his  windows,  destroyed  his 
furniture,  pulled  down  a  small  building,  supposed  to  be  in- 
tended for  a  stamp  office,  and  frightened  Oliver  into  a 
resignation.  Jonathan  Mayhew,  the  able  minister  of  the 
West  Church,  in  Boston — distinguished  by  some  recent  con- 
v'troversial  tracts,  in  which  he  had  severely  criticised  the 


173  HISTORICAL  AND 

conduct  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  in 
maintaining  Episcopal  missionaries  in  New  England — preach- 
ed a  warm  sermon  against  the  Stamp  Act,  taking  for  his 
text,  "  I  would  they  were  even  cut  off  which  trouble  you !"  The 
Monday  evening  after  this  sermon  the  riots  were  renewed. 
The  mob  attacked  the  house  of  Story,  registrar  of  the  Ad- 
miralty, and  destroyed  not  only  the  public  files  and  records, 
but  his  private  papers  also.  Next  they  entered  and  plun- 
dered the  house  of  the  controller  of  customs  ;  and,  maddened 
with  liquor  and  excitement,  proceeded  to  the  mansion  of 
Hutchinson,  in  North  Square.  The  lieutenant-governor  and 
his  family  fled  for  their  lives.  The  house  was  completely 
gutted,  and  the  contents  burned  in  bonfires,  kindled  in  the 
square.  Along  with  Hutchinson's  furniture  and  private  pa- 
pers, perished  many  invaluable  manuscripts  relating  to  the 
history  of  the  province,  which  Hutchinson  had  been  thirty 
years  in  collecting,  and  which  it  was  impossible  to  replace. 

As  commonly  happens  on  such  occasions,  the  immediate 
actors  in  these  scenes  were  persons  of  no  note,  the  dregs  of 
the  population.  Mayhew  sent  the  next  day  a  special  apology 
and  disclaimer  to  Hutchinson.  The  inhabitants  of  Boston, 
at  a  town  meeting,  unanimously  expressed  their  "abhor- 
rence "  of  these  proceedings  ;  and  a  "  civic  guard  "  was  organ- 
ized to  prevent  their  repetition.  Yet  the  rioters,  though  well 
known,  went  unpunished — a  sure  sign  of  the  secret  concur- 
rence and  good-will  of  the  mass  of  the  community.  It  is 
only  in  reliance  on  such  encouragement,  that  mobs  ever 
venture  to  commit  deeds  of  violence.  Those  now  committed 
were  revolutionary  acts,  designed  to  intimidate — melancholy 
forerunners  of  civil  war. 

Throughout  the  northern  colonies,  associations  on  the  basis 
of  forcible  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act,  under  the  name  of 
"  Sons  of  Liberty7' — a  title  borrowed  from  Barre's  famous 
speech — sprung  suddenly  into  existence.  Persons  of  influ- 
ence and  consideration,  though  they  might  favor  the  object, 
kept  aloof,  however,  from  so  dangerous  a  combination,  which 
consisted  of  the  young,  the  ardent,  those  who  loved  excite- 
ment, and  had  nothing  to  lose.  The  history  of  these  "  Sons 
of  Liberty  "  is  very  obscure ;  but  they  seem  to  have  spread 
rapidly  from  Connecticut  and  New  York  into  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey,  and  to  have  taken  up,  as 


KEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  179 

their  special  business,  the  intimidation  of  the  stamp  officers. 
In  all  the  colonies,  those  officers  were  persuaded  or  compelled 
to  resign  ;  and  such  stamps  as  arrived  either  remained  un- 
packed, or  else  were  seized  and  burned.  The  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  unanimously  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions, 
denouncing  the  Stamp  Act  as  "unconstitutional,  and  sub- 
versive of  their  dearest  rights."  Public  meetings  to  protest 
against  it,  were  held  throughout  the  colonies.  The  holding 
of  such  meetings  was  quite  a  new  incident,  and  formed  a  new 
era  in  colonial  history. 

In  the  midst  of  this  universal  excitement,  at  the  day 
appointed  by  Massachusetts,  committees  from  nine  colonies 
met  in  New  York.  The  Assemblies  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  not  having  been  in  session  since  the  issue  of  the 
Massachusetts  circular,  no  opportunity  had  occurred  of  appoint- 
ing committees.  New  York  was  in  the  same  predicament ; 
but  a  committee  of  correspondence,  appointed  at  a  previous 
session,  saw  fit  to  attend.  In  Georgia,  Governor  Wright 
refused  to  call  the  Assembly  together ;  but  the  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  after  consulting  with  a  major- 
ity of  the  membars,  sent  a  letter  to  New  York  approving  the 
proposed  congress,  and  promising  to  support  its  measures. 
The  New  Hampshire  House  of  Representatives  gave  their 
sanction  to  the  congress,  and  offered  to  join  in  any  suitable 
memorial ;  but,  "  owing  to  the  particular  state  of  their  affairs" 
by  which  may  be  understood  the  predominant  influence  of 
Governor  Wentworth,  they  sent  no  delegates.  Dr.  Franklin, 
about  the  close  of  his  first  agency  in  England,  had  obtained 
the  post  of  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  vacated  by  Hardy,  for 
his  natural  and  only  son,  William  Franklin.  The  new  gov- 
ernor, who  inherited  all  the  prudence,  with  none  of  the  patri- 
otic ardor  of  his  father,  had  prevailed  upon  the  Assembly  of 
that  province  to  return  a  negative  answer  to  the  Massachu- 
setts letter ;  but  this  proved  so  unsatisfactory  to  the  people, 
that  the  speaker  called  the  members  together  by  circular, 
and  delegates  were  appointed. 

The  Congress  was  organized  by  the  appointment  of  Rug- 
gles  as  president.  There  were  present,  among  other  mem- 
bers, beside  Otis,  of  Massachusetts,  William  Johnson,  of 
Connecticut ;  Philip  Livingston,  of  New  York ;  John  Dickin- 
son, of  Pennsylvania ;  Thomas  M'Kean,  of  Delaware,  and 


180  HISTORICAL  AND 

Christopher  Gadsden  and  John  Hut-ledge,  of  South  Carolina, 
all  subsequently  distinguished  in  the  history  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. A  rule  was  adopted,  giving  to  each  colony  represented, 
one  vote. 

In  the  course  of  a  three  weeks'  session,  a  Declaration  of 
the  Rights  and  Grievances  of  the  Colonies  was  agreed  to. 
All  the  privileges  of  Englishmen  were  claimed  by  this  decla- 
tion,  as  the  birthright  of  the  colonists — among  the  rest,  the 
right  of  being  taxed  only  by  their  own  consent.  Since  dis- 
tance and  local  circumstances  made  a  representation  in  the 
British  Parliament  impossible,  these  representatives,  it  was 
maintained,  could  be  no  other  than  the  several  colonial  Legis- 
latures. Thus  was  given  a  flat  negative  to  a  scheme  lately 
broached  in  England  by  Pownall  and  others,  for  allowing  to 
the  colonies  a  representation  in  Parliament,  a  project  to  which 
both  Otis  and  Franklin  seem  at  first  to  have  leaned. 

A  petition  to  the  king,  and  memorials  to  each  House  of 
Parliament  were  also  prepared,  in  which  the  cause  of  the 
colonies  was  eloquently  pleaded.  Buggies  refused  to  sign 
these  papers,  on  the  ground  that  they  ought  first  to  be 
approved  by  the  several  Assemblies,  and  should  be  forwarded 
to  England  as  their  acts.  Ogden,  one  of  the  New  Jersey 
delegates,  withheld  his  signature  on  the  same  plea.  The 
delegates  from  New  York  did  not  sign  because  they  had  no 
special  authority  for  their  attendance  ;  nor  did  those  of  Con- 
necticut or  South  Carolina,  their  commission  restricting 
them  to  a  report  to  their  respective  Assemblies.  The  peti- 
tion and  memorials,  signed  by  the  other  delegates,  were 
transmitted  to  England  for  presentation. 

The  several  colonial  Assemblies,  at  their  earliest  sessions, 
gave  to  the  proceedings  a  cordial  approval.  The  conduct  of 
Ruggles,  in  refusing  his  signature,  was  severely  censured  by 
the  Massachusetts  representatives.  Ogden  was  burned  in 
effigy  by  the  people  of  New  Jersey. 

The  first  day  of  November,  appointed  for  the  Stamp  act  tc 
go  into  operation,  came  and  went,  but  not  a  stamp  was  any- 
where to  be  seen.  Two  companies  of  rioters  paraded  that 
evening  the  streets  of  New  York,  demanding  the  delivery  of 
the  stamps,  which  Golden,  on  the  resignation  of  the  stairip 
distributor,  and  his  refusal  to  receive  them,  had  taken  into 
the  fort.  Golden  was  hung  in  effigy.  His  carriage  was 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  181 

seized,  and  made  a  bonfire  of,  under  the  muzzles  of  the  guns ; 
after  which  the  mob  proceeded  to  a  house  in  the  outskirts, 
tnen  occupied  by  Major  James,  of  the  Koyal  artillery,  who 
had  made  himself  obnoxious  by  his  free  comments  on  the  con- 
duct of  the  colonists.  James'  furniture  and  property  were 
destroyed,  as  Hutchinson's  had  been.  General  Gage,  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  was  at 
New  York,  but  the  regular  garrison  in  the  fort  was  very 
small.  Alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  city,  and  not  willing 
to  take  any  responsibility,  as  Sir  Henry  Moore,  the  recently 
appointed  governor,  was  every  day  expected,  Golden  agreed 
by  Gage's  advice,  the  captain  of  a  British  ship  of  war  in  the 
harbor  having  refused  to  receive  them,  to  give  up  the  stamps 
to  the  mayor  and  corporation.  They  were  accordingly  depos- 
ited in  the  City  Hall,  under  a  receipt  given  by  the  Mayor. 

These  proceedings  had  been  under  the  control  of  the  infe- 
rior class  of  people,  of  whom  Isaac  Sears,  formerly  a  ship- 
master, and  now  inspector  of  potashes,  was  a  conspicuous 
leader.  The  next  day  a  meeting  was  called  of  the  wealthier 
inhabitants,  and  a  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  Sears 
was  a  member,  with  four  colleagues,  to  correspond  with  the 
other  colonies.  This  committee  soon  brought  forward  an 
agreement  to  import  no  more  goods  from  Great  Britain  till 
the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed — the  commencement  of  a  system 
of  retaliation  on  the  mother  country  repeatedly  resorted  to 
in  the  course  of  the  struggle.  This  non-importation  agree- 
ment, to  which  a  non-consumption  agreement  was  presently 
added,  beside  being  extensively  signed  in  New  York,  was 
adopted  also  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  At  the  same  time, 
and  as  part  of  the  same  plan,  a  combination  was  entered  into 
for  the  support  of  American  manufactures,  the  wearing  ot 
American  cloths,  and  the  increase  of  sheep,  by  ceasing  to  eat 
lamb  or  mutton. 

Business,  suspended  for  a  while,  was  presently  resumed. 
Stamped  papers  were  required  in  judicial  proceedings,  but  by 
continuing  the  cases  before  them,  or  going  on  without  notice 
of  the  deficiency,  even  the  judges,  after  some  hesitation,  con- 
curred in  nullifying  the  act. 

A  change  in   the  English  ministry,  which  took  place  in 
July,  and  the  news  of  which  reached  America  in  September, 
16 


182  HISTORICAL  AND 

encouraged  the  colonists  in  the  stand  they  had  taken. 
change  originated  in  domestic  reasons,  wholly  unconnected 
with  colonial  polity ;  it  was  regarded,  however,  as  favorable 
to  the  general  cause  of  freedom.  The  old  Whig  aristocracy, 
which  had  governed  the  kingdom  since  the  accession  of  the 
house  of  Hanover,  had  split  up,  of  late,  into  several  bitter 
and  hostile  factions,  chiefly  founded  on  mere  personal  consid- 
erations. Pitt's  repeated  attacks  on  former  ministries,  and, 
at  last,  his  forcing  himself  into  power,  had  contributed  not  a 
little  to  this  result.  The  accession  of  George  III,  had  given 
rise  to  a  new  party,  by  which  Pitt  himself  had  been  super- 
seded— a  party  which  called  themselves  "  king's  friends," 
composed  partly  of  political  adventurers  from  among  the 
Whigs,  such  as  Grenville,  the  late  minister,  but  partly  also 
of  the  representatives  of  the  old  Tory  families,  for  half  a 
century  previous  excluded  by  the  Whigs  from  office.  These 
"  king's  friends"  were  regarded  as  hostile  to  popular  rights, 
and  were  looked  upon  by  the  great  body  of  the  middle  class 
with  very  jealous  eyes.  It  was  their  distinguishing  doctrine, 
that  the  authority  of  the  king  had  been  usurped  and  en- 
croached upon  by  the  House  of  Commons.  The  Marquis  of 
Buckingham,  the  new  minister,  leader  of  one  of  the  frag- 
ments of  the  old  Whig  party,  was  liberally  disposed ;  but 
as  yet,  there  hardly  existed  in  England  a  popular  party,  in 
our  American  sense.  The  interests  of  trade  and  manufac- 
tures were  not,  indeed,  without  their  representatives,  chosen 
from  some  of  the  large  towns,  but  a  great  part  of  the 
boroughs  were  "rotten" — the  property,  that  is,  of  one  or 
more  individuals,  who,  in  fact,  named  the  representatives; 
while  money,  in  the  shape  of  bribes,  decided  the  choice  in 
many  of  the  rest.  The  House  of  Commons  represented  a 
narrow  aristocracy,  the  majority  of  the  members  being  sub- 
stantially nominated  by  the  great  landholders.  The  House, 
thus,  chosen,  debated  with  closed  doors,  only  a  few  spectators 
being  admitted,  as  a  special  favor.  To  publish  an  account 
of  their  proceedings  was  a  breach  of  privilege,  and  only 
brief  and  imperfect  sketches,  even  of  the  principal  debates, 
found  their  way  into  print.  Faint  signs  were  but  just  be- 
ginning to  appear,  of  that  social  revolution  which  has  created 
the  modern  popular  party  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe, 
giving  complete  publicity  to  legislative  proceedings,  and 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  183 

organizing  public  opinion  as  a  regular  and  powerful  check 
upon  authority. 

In  the  address  from  the  throne,  at  the  opening  of  the 
session,  the  new  ministry  brought  the  state  of  colonial  affairs 
before  Parliament.  They  produced  the  correspondence  of  the 
colonial  governors,  and  other  papers  relating  to  the  late  dis- 
turbance. Numerous  petitions  from  British  merchants,  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  were  also  presented  to  the  two 
Houses.  (1766.) 

Pitt,  for  some  time  past  withdrawn  by  sickness  from  pub- 
lic affairs,  was  unconnected,  at  this  moment,  with  either 
Grenville's  or  Kockingham's  party.  He  now  appeared  in  his 
place  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  delivered  his  opinion, 
"  that  the  kingdom  had  no  right  to  levy  a  tax  on  the  col- 
onies." "  Th£  Commons  in  America,  represented  in  their 
several  assemblies,  have  invariably  exercised  the  constitu- 
tional right  of  giving  and  granting  their  own  money ;  they 
would  have  been  slaves  if  they  had  not ;  at  the  same  time, 
this  kingdom  has  ever  possessed  the  power  of  legislative  and 
commercial  control.  The  colonies  acknowledge  your  author- 
ity in  all  things,  with  the  sole  exception  that  you  shall  not 
take  their  money  out  of  their  pockets  without  their  consent." 

This  decided  avowal  by  Pitt,  made  a  profound  impression 
on  the  House.  After  a  long  pause,  Grenville  rose  to  vindi- 
cate the  Stamp  Act.  The  tumults  in  America  bordered,  he 
averred,  on  open  rebellion ;  but  if  the  doctrines  now  promul- 
gated were  upheld,  they  would  soon  lose  that  name,  and  be- 
come a  revolution.  Taxation  was  a  branch  of  the  sovereign 
power,  constantly  exercised  by  Parliament,  over  the  unrepre- 
sented. Resorting,  then,  to  a  method  of  intimidation  com- 
mon with  politicians,  "the  seditious  spirit  of  the  colonies," 
he  said,  "  owes  its  birth  to  the  faction  in  this  House."  This 
invidious  assault  was  met  by  Pitt  with  characteristic  intrepid- 
ity. "  A  charge  is  brought  against  gentlemen  sitting  in 
this  House,  of  giving  birth  to  sedition  in  America.  The 
freedom  with  which  they  have  spoken  their  sentiments 
against  this  unhappy  act,  is  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime. 
But  the  imputation  shall  not  discourage  me."  "  We  are  told 
America  is  obstinate — America  is  almost  in  open  rebellion. 
Sir,  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted.  Three  millions  of 
people  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to 


13-i  HISTORICAL  AND 

submit  to  be  slaves,  would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make 
slaves  of  all  the  rest."  "  The  Americans  have  been  wronged ! 
They  have  been  driven  to  madness  by  injustice  !  Will  you 
punish  them  for  the  madness  you  have  occasioned  ?  No  ! 
Let  this  country  be  the  first  to  resume  its  prudence  and  tem- 
per ;  I  will  pledge  myself  for  the  colonies,  that  on  their 
part,  animosity  and  resentment  will  cease." 

The  new  ministry  were  under  no  obligation  to  support  the 
policy  of  their  predecessors.  Anxious  to  escape  the  difficulty 
by  the  readiest  means,  they  brought  in  a  bill  for  repealing 
the  Stamp  Act.  Franklin,  summoned  to  the  bar  of  the 
House  as  a  witness,  testified  that  the  act  could  never  be  en- 
forced. His  prompt  and  pointed  answers  gained  him  great 
credit  for  information,  acuteness,  and  presence  of  mind.  In 
favor  of  repeal,  Burke,  introduced  into  Parliament  by 
Rockingham,  to  whom  he  had  been  private  secretary,  and 
for  one  of  whose  rotten  boroughs  he  sat,  gave  his  eloquent 
support.  In  spite  of  a  very  strenuous  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  supporters  of  the  late  ministry,  the  bill  of  repeal  was 
carried  in  the  House  of  Commons,  by  a  vote  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven. 

But  the  ministers  by  no  means  went  the  length  of  Pitt. 
They  placed  the  repeal  on  the  ground  of  expediency  merely, 
and  they  softened  the  opposition  by  another  bill,  previously 
passed,  which  asserted  the  power  and  right  of  Parliament 
"  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever."  Lord  Cam- 
den,  formerly  Chief-justice  Pratt,  made  a  vigorous  opposition 
to  this  bill,  in  the  House  of  Lords.  "  My  position  is  this — I 
repeat  it — I  will  maintain  it  to  the  last  hour — taxation  and 
representation  are  inseparable.  The  position  is  founded  in 
the  law  of  nature.  It  is  more :  it  is  itself  an  eternal  law 
of  nature."  Lord  Mansfield,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained 
the  sovereign  power  of  Parliament  as  including  the  right  to 
tax ;  an  idea  quite  too  flattering  to  the  pride  of  authority  to 
bo  easily  relinquished. 


CHAPTER    XY. 

Dawn  of  the  Revolutionary  Period — Humorous  "History  of  John  Bull's 
Children  " — Contrast  between  causes  which  led  to  the  Revolution  of  1688, 
in  England,  and  those  which  led  to  the  American  Revolution ;  from  Judge 
Drayton's  Charge,  in  1776. 

We  now  come  to  a  new  era  of  struggle,  in  the  history  of 
"  Sam,"  by,  and  through  which,  his  youthful  prowess,  thus 
continually  exercised,  as  we  have  witnessed,  becomes  meet 
for  successful  collison  with  the  uttermost  force  which  is  likely 
to  array  itself  against  his  future.  He  has  one  more  covert 
foe,  with  whom  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  he  finally  "  at 
quits/7  and  who,  (though  not  necessarily  an  internal  one 
as  are  the  Jesuits !)  is  yet,  through  his  machinations,  as 
dangerous,  and  even  more  important. 

As  usual,  with  the  most  serious  affairs  of  the  kind — it  is 
a  family  quarrel,  in  which  his  elder  first  cousin,  John  Bull, 
assumes  a  domineering  and  pugilistic  attitude,  to  the  great 
tribulation  of  Sam — who,  for  the  very  reason  that  he  was 
born  of  nothing  but  a  cloud,  was  particularly  sensitive  about 
the  matter  of  descent,  primogeniture,  reversions,  titles,  etc. 
Now  all  this  may  seem  to  have  been  very  inconsistent  on  his 
part,  but  a  slight  sketch  of  his  family  history  about  those 
times,  will  illustrate  these  traits  of  Sam  sufficiently. 

"THE   HISTORY   OF   JOHN   BULI/S   CHILDREN." 

We  find  the  following  in  the  "Maryland  Gazette"  of 
August,  1776,  into  which  it  was  copied  from  the  "  London 
Chronicle." 

I,  Sir  Humphrey  Polesworth,  who  formerly  gave  the  world 
a  true  and  faithful  account  of  Jphn  Bull,  and  of  his  mother. 
16*  185 


186  HISTORICAL  AND 

and  his  sister,  and  wives,  and  his  servants,  now  write  the 
history  of  his  children,  and  how  they  were  got,  and  how  they 
were  educated,  and  what  befell  them.  Courteous  reader,  if 
thou  hast  any  curiosity  to  know  these  things,  read  the  follow- 
ing chapters,  and  learn. 

CHAPTER  I. — Of  seven  natural  children,  which  John  Bull 
had  in  his  younger  days  by  Doll  Secretary,  his  mother's 
maid ;  namely,  three  boys,  John,  junior,  or  master  Jacky, 
Yorky,  and  Jerry:  four  girls,  Penelope,  Mary,  Virgy,  and 
Caroline.  How  the  old  lady  would  suffer  no  bastards  in  her 
family ;  and  ho\v  the  poor  infants  were  turned  adrift  on  the 
fish-ponds  as  soon  as  born  ;  how  they  landed  on  the  western 
shore,  and  were  there  nursed  by  a  wild  bear,  all  under  the 
green  wood  tree. 

CHAPTER  n. — How  John  disowned  them,  and  left  them  to 
get  over  the  children's  disorders  the  best  way  they  could, 
without  paying  a  farthing  for  nurses,  or  apothecary's  bills ; 
and  how,  as  soon  as  they  had  cut  their  eye-teeth,  and  were 
able  to  walk  alone,  John  claimed  them  for  his  own. 

CHAPTER  in. — How  Master  Jacky  turned  fisherman  and 
ship-carpenter.  Yorky  and  Jerry  drove  a  great  trade ;  Miss 
Penny  dealt  in  flour,  called  the  Maid  of  the  Mill,  and  never 
courtesied  to  anybody.  How  Mary  and  Virgy  set  up  a 
snuff-shop ;  and  Caroline  turned  dry  salter,  and  sold  indigo  ; 
and  how  they  all  flourished  exceedingly,  and  laid  out  every 
penny  they  earned,  in  their  father's  warehouse. 

CHAPTER  rv. — Of  two  children  more,  that  John  had  after- 
ward, in  lawful  wedlock  (viz  :  a  boy  whom  he  called  Georgy, 
after  his  great  patron,  and  a  girl,  whom  he  called  Peg,  after 
his  sister  Margaret);  how  he  crammed  them  with  sugar- 
plums, and  how  they  remain  sickly,  rickety  brats  to  this  clay. 

CHAPTER  v. — How  young  Master  Baboon,  old  Louis'  only 
son,  fell  in  love  with  Miss  Virgy,  and  how  he  came  behind 
with  intent  to  ravish  her;  how  she  squealed,  and  alarmed 
her  dad. 

CHAPTER  vi. — How  John  called  for  his  stick  and  his  barge, 
and  crossed  the  pond  to  save  his  daughter's  virtue ;  how 
young  Louis  gave  him  a  confounded  rap  on  his  fingers  and 
drove  him  back ;  then  at  his  daughter  again. 

CHAPTER  vii. — How  her  brother  Jack  came  to  her  assist- 
ance, and -threw  young  Louis  on  his  back;  how  old  Louis 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  1ST 

Baboon  flew  to  help  his  son,  and  carried  Lord  Strutt  along 
with  him ;  how  John  Bull  returned  and  mustered  all  his 
children  at  his  back,  and  to  it  they  went. 

CHAPTER  vm. — How  they  had  a  long  tussle  ;  how  John's 
children  saved  their  old  dad  from  a  broken  head,  and  helped 
to  seize  young  Louis  and  tie  him ;  how  the  old  folks  agreed 
to  leave  young  Louis  in  custody,  and  drink  friends  them- 
selves ;  and  how  John  made  his  children  pay  a  share  of  the 
reckoning,  without  giving  them  any  of  the  drink. 

CHAPTER  ix. — How  John,  in  his  cups,  bragged  of  his  exploits, 
and  said  he  had  done  all  himself,  and  his  children  nothing ; 
how  he  made  choice  of  fair  George,  the  gentle  shepherd,  for 
his  house-steward,  and  because  he  could  tell,  without  the  book, 
that  two  and  three  make  five,  and  had  the  multiplication 
table  by  heart. 

CHAPTER  x. — The  whole  stewardship  of  fair  George — how 
he  neglected  to  protest  Louis  Baboon's  note  of  hand  on  the 
day  of  payment,  and  released  Lord  Strutt  from  a  mortgage  on 
his  manor  of  Eastland  ;  how  he  took  an  aversion  to  cider,  and 
would  allow  none  to  be  drunk  in  his  family ;  how  he  rum- 
maged every  man's  chest  for  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  obliged 
those  he  caught  writing,  to  stand  atop  of  the  table,  with  a 
wooden  neckcloth  under  their  chin,  while  he  counted  sixty 
times  sixty ;  and  how  this  is  called  the  gentle  shepherd's 
benefit  of  the  clergy,  unto  this  day. 

CHAPTER  xi. — How  fair  George  took  an  antipathy  to  John's 
children,  because  he  said  they  put  nothing  into  the  box  at 
Christmas ;  and  when  they  came  to  pay  their  shop  accounts, 
they  brought  in  their  money  at  the  back  door ;  how  he  advised 
John  to  brand  them  on  the  far  buttock,  as  they  do  stray 
cattle,  that  he  might  know  them  as  his  own. 

CHAPTER  xii. — How  John's  children  rode  restive,  and  swore 
they  would  not  have  the  broad  R  stamped  on  their  b — k- 
s — des  ;  how  John,  in  heating  the  irons,  burnt  his  own  fingers, 
most  d — ly  ;  how  all  his  neighbors  laughed,  and  fair  George 
could  not  find  him  a  plaster. 

CHAPTER  xin. — How  John,  in  a  passion,  kicked  fair  George 
down  stairs,  and  rung  up  other  servants ;  how  they  advised 
him  to  consult  his  wife ;  and  how  Mrs.  Bull  advised  him  to 
let  his  children  alone  ;  that,  though  they  were  born  in  sin,  they 
were  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  needed  no  stamp  to  show 


188  HISTORICAL  AND 

it ;  how  John  took  her  advice,  and  let  the  irons  cool  again ; 
and  how  some  suspected  if  John's  fingers  had  not  smarted  he 
would  not  have  complied  so  soon. 

CHAPTER  xiv. — A  dialogue  on  education,  between  fair 
George  and  lame  Will.  How  Will  proved  it  to  be  both  cruel 
and  impolitic  to  pinch  children  till  they  cried,  and  then  pinch 
them  for  crying  ;  and  how  George  answered  and  said  nothing. 

CHAPTER  xv. — How  John,  by  means  of  his  new  servants, 
became  beloved  of  his  children,  and  respected  by  his  neigh- 
bors ;  how  he  obliged  Louis  Baboon  to  beat  down  the  walls  of 
Ecclesdown  castle,  because  it  overlooked  his  pond,  and  har- 
bored seagulls,  to  gobble  up  his  fish .  How  he  made  him  also 
pay  up  his  note  of  hand ;  and  how  Lord  Strutt . 

What  Lord  Strutt  did,  does  not  appear,  but  this  veracious 
narrator  of  the  olden  time,  has  furnished  us  with  a  genealo- 
gical treatise,  invaluable  in  itself,  and  highly  illustrative  of 
many  striking  peculiarities,  which  we  find  to  be  even  at  this 
day,  the  distinctive  family  traits  of  "  Sam,"  who  has  clearly 
inherited  many  of  the  good  as  well  as  bad  qualities  com- 
plained of,  and  portrayed  above  in  the  character  of  his  an- 
cestor, John  Bull.  Though  Sam  is  in  this  instance  the 
rather  graphic  complainant,  yet  we  have  endeavored  to  show, 
that  in  many  instances  since,  his  own  conduct  would  have 
been  no  discredit  to  the  attributes  of  the  venerable  elder 
John,  himself! 

But  that  "  Sam  "  now  began  to  have  real  causes  of  com- 
plaint, we  shall  perceive  by  the  following  "catalogue  of  op- 
pressions, and  contrast  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  revolution 
which  deposed  James  II.,  and  those  which  led  to  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution."  This  valuable  document  is  from 

JUDGE  DRAYTON'S  CHARGE, 

At  an  adjournment  of  the  Court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF 
THE  PEACE,  OYER  AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE,  AND  GENERAL 
GAOL  DELIVERY,  held  at  Charleston,  for  the  District  of  Charles- 
ton, on  Tuesday,  the  23d  day  of  April,  1776,  before  the 
HON.  WILLIAM  HENRY  DRAYTON,  Esq.,  Chief-justice,  and  his 
Associates,  justices  of  the  colony  of  South  Carolina. 

Even  the  famous  revolution  in  England,  in  the  year 
1 088,  is  much  inferior.  However,  we  need  no  better  authority 


KEVOLUTTONAKY  INCIDENTS. 

than  that  illustrious  precedent,  and  I  will  therefore  com- 
pare the  causes  of,  and  the  law  upon  the  two  events. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1688,  the  Lords  and  Commons 
of  England,  in  convention,  completed  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

"Kesolved,  That  King  James  II.,  having  endeavored  to 
subvert  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom,  by  breaking  the 
original  contract  between  king  and  people ;  and,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  Jesuits  and  other  wicked  persons,  having  violated  the 
fundamental  laws,  and  having  withdrawn  himself  out  of  this 
kingdom ;  has  abdicated  the  government,  and  that  the 
throne  is  thereby  vacant." 

That  famous  resolution  deprived  James  of  his  crown,  and 
became  the  foundation  on  which  the  throne  of  the  present 
king  of  Great  Britain  is  built ;  it  also  supports  the  edifice 
of  government  which  we  have  erected. 

In  that  resolve,  there  are  but  three  facts  stated  to  have 
been  done  by  James.  I  will  point  them  out,  and  examine 
whether  those  facts  will  apply  to  the  present  king  of  Great 
Britain,  with  regard  to  the  operations  of  government,  by 
him  or  his  representative  immediately,  or  by  consequence, 
affecting  this  colony. 

The  first  fact  is,  the  having  endeavored  to  subvert  the 
constitution  of  the  kingdom,  by  weakening  the  original 
contract. 

The  violation  of  the  fundamental  laws  is  the  second  fact ; 
and  in  support  of  these  two  charges,  the  Lords  spiritual  and 
temporal,  and  Commons,  assembled  at  Westminister,  on  the 
12th  day  of  February,  1688,  declared  James  was  guilty: 

"By  assuming  and  exercising  a  power  of  dispensing  with, 
and  suspending  of  laws,  and  the  execution  of  laws,'  without 
consent  of  Parliament; 

"  By  committing  and  prosecuting  divers  worthy  prelates, 
for  humbly  petitioning  to  be  excused  from  concurring  to  the 
said  assumed  power ; 

"By  issuing  and  causing  to  be  executed  a  commission, 
under  the  great  seal,  for  erecting  a  court,  called  the  Court 
of  Commissioners  for  Ecclesiastical  Causes  ; 

"  By  levying  money  for,  and  to  the  use  of  the  crown,  by 
pretense  of  prerogative,  for  other  time,  and  in  other  man- 
ner, than  the  same  was  granted  by  Parliament ; 


190  HISTORICAL  AND 

"  By  raising  and  keeping  a  standing  army  within  this 
kingdom  in  time  of  peace,  without  consent  of  Parliament ; 
and  quartering  soldiers  contrary  to  law; 

"  By  causing  several  good  subjects,  being  Protestants,  to 
be  disarmed,  at  the  same  time  when  papists  were  both  armed 
and  employed,  contrary  to  law ; 

"By  violating  the  freedom  of  election  of  members  to 
serve  in  Parliament ; 

"  By  prosecuting  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  for  mat- 
ters and  causes  cognizable  only  in  Parliament ;  and  by  divers 
other  arbitrary  and  illegal  courses." 

This  declaration,  thus  contains  two  points  of  criminal- 
ity— breach  of  the  original  contract,  and  violation  of  funda- 
mental law. 

The  catalogue  of  our  oppressions,  continental  and  local,  is 
enormous.  Of  such  oppressions,  I  will  mention  only  some 
of  the  most  weighty : 

Under  color  of  law,  the  King  and  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  have  made  the  most  arbitrary  attempts  to  enslave 
America : 

By  claiming  a  right  TO  BIND  THE  COLONIES  IN  ALL  CASES 

WHATSOEVER  ; 

By  laying  duties,  at  their  mere  will  and  pleasure,  upon  all 
the  colonies  ; 

By  suspending  the  Legislature  of  New  York  ; 

By  rendering  the  American  charters  of  no  validity,  h'aving 
annulled  the  most  material  parts  of  the  charter  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay ; 

By  divesting  multitudes  of  the  colonists  of  their  property 
without  legal  accusation  or  trial ; 

By  depriving  whole  colonies  of  the  bounty  of  Providence 
on  their  own  proper  coasts,  in  order  to  coerce  them  by 
famine ; 

By  restricting  the  trade  and  commerce  of  America  ; 

By  sending  to,  and  continuing  in  America,  in  time  of 
peace,  an  armed  force,  without  and  against  the  consent  of  the 
people ; 

By  granting  impunity  to  a  soldiery  instigated  to  murder 
the  Americans; 

By  declaring,  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay  are 
liable  for  offences,  or  pretended  offences,  done  in  that  colony, 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  191 

to  be  sent  to,  and  tried  for  the  same  in  ENGLAND;  or  in 
any  colony  where  they  can  not  have  the  benefit  of  a  jury  of  the 
vicinage. 

By  establishing,  in  Quebec,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
and  an  arbitrary  government ;  instead  of  the  Protestant 
religion  and  a  free  government. 

And  thus  America  saw  it  demonstrated,  that  no  faith  ought 
to  be  put  in  a  royal  proclamation ;  for  I  must  observe  to  you 
that,  in  the  year  1763,  by  such  a  proclamation,  people  were 
invited  to  settle  in  Canada,  and  were  assured  of  a  legislative 
representation,  the  benefit  of  the  common  law  of  England, 
and  a  free  government.  It  is  a  misfortune  to  the  public, 
that  this  is  not  the  only  instance  of  the  inefficiency  of  a  royal 
proclamation.  However,  having  given  you  one  instance  of  a 
failure  of  royal  faith  in  the  northern  extremity  of  this 
abused  continent,  let  it  suffice,  that  I  direct  your  attention  to 
southern  extremity,  respecting  which,  the  same  particulars, 
were,  in  the  same  manner  promised,  but  the  deceived  inhab- 
itants of  St.  Augustine  are  left  by  their  grand  jury,  in  vain 
to  complain  and  lament  to  the  world,  and  yet  scarcely  per- 
mitted to  exercise  even  that  privilege  distinguishing  the 
miserable  distinction  that  royal  faith  is  not  kept  with  them. 

Let  us  contrast  the  causes  which  led  to  the  Kevolution 
which  deposed  James  II,  with  those  which  led  to  the  American 
Ee volution : 

In  the  first  place  then,  it  is  laid  down  in  the  best  law 
authorities,  that  protection  and  subjection  are  reciprocal ;  and 
that  these  reciprocal  duties  form  the  original  contract  between 
king  and  people.  It  therefore  follows,  that  the  original  contract 
was  broken  by  James'  conduct,  as  above  stated,  which  amount- 
ed to  a  not  affording  due  protection  to  his  people.  And  it  is 
clear  that  he  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  by  the  suspend- 
ing of  laws,  and  the  execution  of  laws ;  by  levying  money ; 
by  violating  the  freedom  of  election  of  members  to  serve  in 
parliament ;  by  keeping  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace ; 
and  by  quartering  soldiers  contrary  to  law,  and  without  con- 
sent of  parliament — which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  that  he  did 
those  things  without  consent  of  the  legislative  Assembly  chosen 
by  the  PERSONAL  ELECTION  of  that  people,  over  whom  such 
doings  were  exercised. 


192  HISTORICAL  AND 

These  points,  reasonings  and  conclusions,  being  settled  in, 
deduced  from,  and  established  upon  parliamentary  proceedings 
and  the  best  law  authorities,  must  ever  remain  unshaken. 
I  am  now  to  undertake  the  disagreeable  task  of  examining 
whether  they  will  apply  to  the  violences  which  have  lighted 
up,  and  now  feed  the  flames  of  civil  war  in  America. 

James  II.  suspended  the  operations  of  laws — George  III 
caused  the  charter  of  the  Massachusetts-Bay  to  be,  in  effect, 
annihilated ;  he  suspended  the  operation  of  the  law  which 
formed  a  legislature  in  New  York,  vesting  it  with  adequate 
powers  ;  and  thereby  he  caused  the  very  ability  of  making 
laws  in  that  colony  to  be  suspended. 

King  James  levied  money  without  the  consent  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  called  upon  to  pay  it — King 
George  has  levied  money  upon  America,  not  only  without, 
but  expressly  against  the  consent  of  .the  representatives  of 
the  people  in  America. 

King  James  violated  the  freedom  of  election  of  members 
to  serve  in  parliament — King  George,  by  his  representative, 
Lord  William  Campbell,  acting  for  him  and  on  his  be- 
half, broke  through  a  fundamental  law  of  this  country,  for 
the  certain  holding  of  general  assemblies ;  and,  thereby,  as 
far  as  in  him  lay,  not  only  violated,  but  annihilated  the  very 
ability  of  holding  a  general  assembly. 

King  James,  in  time  of  peace,  kept  a  standing  army  in 
England,  without  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  among  whom  that  army  was  kept — King  George 
hath,  in  time  of  peace,  invaded  this  continent  with  a  large 
standing  army,  without  the  consent,  and  he  hath  kept  it 
within  this  continent  expressly  against  the  consent  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  among  whom  that  army  is  posted. 

All  which  doings  by  King  George  III.,  respecting 
America,  are  as  much  contrary  to  our  interests  and  welfare, 
as  much  against  law,  and  tend  as  much,  at  least,  to  subvert 
and  extirpate  the  liberties  of  this  colony,  and  of  America, 
as  the  similar  proceedings,  by  James  II.,  operated  respect- 
ing the  people  of  England.  For  the  same  principle  of 
law,  touching  the  premises,  equally  applies  to  the  people 
of  England  in  the  one  case,  and  to  the  people  of  America 
in  the  other.  And  this  is  the  great  principle.  Certain  acts 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  193 

done,  over,  and  affecting  a  people,  against  and  without  THEIR 
CONSENT,  expressed  by  themselves,  or  by  REPRESENTATIVES  of 
their  "OWN  ELECTION.  Upon  this  only  principle  was  grounded 
the  complaints  of  the  people  of  England — upon  the  same  is 
grounded  the  complaints  of  the  people  of  America.  And 
hence  it  clearly  follows,  that  if  James  II.  violated  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  England,  George  III.  hath  also  violated  the 
fundamental  laws  of  America. 

Again : — King  James  broke  the  original  contract  by  not 
affording  clue  protection  to  his  subjects,  although  he  was  not 
charged  with  having  seized  their  towns,  or  with  having  held 
them  against  the  people — or,  with  having  laid  them  in  ruins, 
by  his  arms — or,  with  having  seized  their  vessels — or,  with 
having  pursued  the  people  with  fire  and  sword — or,  with 
having  declared  them  rebels  for  resisting  his  arms,  levelled 
to  destroy  their  lives,  liberties,  and  properties.  But  George 
III.  hath  done  all  these  things  against  America ;  and,  it  is, 
therefore,  undeniable  that  he  hath  not  afforded  due  pro- 
tection to  the  people.  Wherefore,  if  James  II.  broke  the 
original  contract,  it  is  undeniable  that  George  III.  has  also 
broken  the  original  contract  between  king  and  people  ;  and 
that  he  made  use  of  the  most  violent  measures  by  which  it 
could  be  done — violences  of  which  James  tvas  GUILTLESS — 
measures  carrying  conflagrations,  massacre  and  open  war 
amidst  a  people  whose  subjection  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
the  law  holds  to  be  due  only  as  a  return  for  protection.  And 
so  tenacious  and  clear  is  the  law  upon  this  very  principle,  that 
it  is  laid  down,  subjection  is  not  due  even  to  a  king,  de  jure, 
or  of  right,  unless  he  be  also  king  de  facto,  or  in  possession 
of  the  executive  powers  dispensing  protection. 

Again,  the  third  fact  charged  against  James  is,  that  he 
withdrew  himself  out  of  the  kingdom — and  we  know  that 
the  people  of  this  country  have  declared,  that  Lord  William 
Campbell,  the  king  of  Great  Britain's  representative,  "  hav- 
ing used  his  utmost  efforts  to  destroy  the  lives,  liberties,  and 
property  of  the  good  people  here,  whom  by  the  duty  of 
his  station  he  was  bound  to  protect,  withdrew  himself  out 
of  the  colony."  Hence  it  will  appear,  that  George  III. 
hath  withdrawn  himself  out  of  this  colony,  provided  it  be 
established  that  exactly  the  same  natural  consequence  resulted 
from  the  withdrawal  in  each  case  respectivelv-^rKm.g  Jan^es 
17 


194  HISTORICAL  AND 

personally  out  of  England,  and  King  George  out  of  Carolina, 
by  the  agency  of  his  substitute  and  representative,  Lord 
William  Campbell. 

By  King  James'  withdrawing,  the  executive  magistrate 
was  gone  ;  thereby,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  the  executive  magis- 
trate was  dead,  and  of  consequence,  royal  government  actu- 
ally ceased  in  England: — so  by  King  George's  representative 
withdrawing,  the  executive  magistrate  was  gone ;  the  death, 
in  law,  became  apparent,  and  of  consequence  royal  govern- 
ment actually  ceased  in  this  colony.  Lord  William  withdrew 
as  the  king's  representative,  carrying  off  the  great  seal  and 
royal  instructions  to  governors ;  and  acting  for,  and  on  the 
part  of  his  principal,  by  every  construction  of  law,  that  con- 
duct became  the  conduct  of  his  principal ;  and  thus,  James 
11.  withdrew  out  of  England,  and  George  III.  withdrew 
out  of  South  Carolina ;  and  by  such  a  conduct,  respectively, 
the  people  in  each  country  were  exactly  in  the  same  degree 
injured. 

The  three  facts  against  King  James  being  thus  stated,  and 
compared  with  similar  proceedings  by  King  George,  we  are 
now  to  ascertain  the  result  of  the  injuries  done  by  the  first, 
and  the  law  upon  that  point — which  being  ascertained,  must 
naturally  constitute  the  judgement  in  law,  upon  the  result 
of  the  similar  injuries  done  by  the  last;  and  I  am  happy 
that  I  can  give  you  the  best  authority  upon  this  important 
point. 

Treating  upon  this  great  precedent  in  constitutional  law, 
the  learned  Judge  Blackstone  declares,  that  the  result  of  the 
facts  "  amounted  to  an  abdication  of  the  government,  which 
abdication  did  not  affect  only  the  person  of  the  king  himself, 
but  also,  all  his  heirs;  and  rendered  the  throne  absolutely 
and  completely  vacant."  Thus  it  clearly  appears  that  the 
government  was  not  abdicated,  and  the  throne  vacated  by 
the  resolution  of  the  Lords  and  Commons,  but  that  the  resolu- 
tion was  only  declaratory  of  the  law  of  Nature  and  reason, 
upon  the  result  of  the  injuries  proceeding  from  the  three 
combined  facts  of  mal-administration.  And  thus,  as  I  have 
on  the  foot  of  the  best  authorities  made  it  evident,  that  George 
III.,  king  of  Great  Britain,  has  endeavored  to  subvert  the 
constitution  of  this  country,  by  breaking  the  original  contract 
between  king  and  country  ;  by  the  advice  of  wicked  persons, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  195 

has  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and  has  withdrawn  him- 
self, by  withdrawing  the  constitutional  benefits  of  the  kingly 
office,  and  his  protection  out  of  this  country ;  from  such  a 
result  of  injuries,  from  such  a  conjunction  of  circumstances, 
the  law  of  the  land  authorizes  me  to  declare,  and  it  is  my 
duty  boldly  to  declare  the  law,  that  George  III.,  king  of 
Great  Britain,  has  abdicated  the  government,  and  that  the 
throne  is  thereby  vacant — that  is,  he  has  no  authority  over  us, 
and  we  owe  no  obedience  to  him.  The  British  ministers  already 
have  presented  a  charge  of  mine  to  the  notice  of  the  Lords 
and  Commons,  in  Parliament ;  and  I  am  nothing  loth  that 
they  take  equal  resentment  against  this  charge.  For,  sup- 
ported by  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  constitution,  and 
engaged  as  I  am  in  the  cause  of  virtue,  I  fear  no  consequences 
from  their  machinations. 

Thus  having  stated  the  principal  causes  of  our  last  revo- 
lution, it  is  clear  as  the  sun  in  meridian,  that  George  III. 
injured  the  Americans,  at  least  as  grievously  as  James  II. 
injured  the  people  of  England;  but  that  James  did  not 
oppress  these  in  so  criminal  a  manner  as  George  has  oppressed 
the  Americans. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Townshend's  scheme  of  Colonial  Taxation — Repeal  of  the  new  taxes,  except 
that  on  Tea — Local  Affairs — Trade  of  the  Colonies — Att  mpt  to  collect 
the  Tax  on  Tea — Reminiscences  of  the  Position  of  the  Tea  Ships  at 
Boston — Destruction  of  the  Tea  in  Boston  Harbor. 

In  spite  of  the  Parliamentary  claim,  of  power  o  bind  the 
colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  the  repeal  of  the  >tamp  Act 
produced  throughout  America  a  great  hurst  of  loyalty  and 
gratitude.  Virginia  voted  a  statue  to  the  king.  New  York 
voted  statues  to  the  king  and  to  Pitt,  both  of  which  were 
presently  erected.  Maryland  voted  a  statue  to  Pitt,  and  a 
portrait  of  Lord  Camden.  Faneuil  Hall  was  adorned  with 
full-length  pictures  of  Barre  and  Conway.  Pitt  became  more 
than  ever  a  popular  idol.  Resolutions  of  thanks  to  him  and 
others  were  agreed  to  by  most  of  the  colonial  Assemblies. 

A  resolution  of  the  House  of  Commons  had  demanded 
indemnity  from  the  colonies  for  such  crown  officers  as  had 
suffered  losses  in  the  late  Stamp  Act  riots.  New  York 
promptly  complied.  After  much  urging  by  the  governor, 
Massachusetts  passed  a  similar  act ;  but  a  free  pardon  to  the 
rioters,  inserted  in  it,  betrayed  the  state  of  public  feeling, 
and  gave  great  offense  in  England. 

As  the  first  burst  of  exultation  died  away,  new  discontents 
began  to  spring  up.  The  Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  but  the 
"  Sugar  Act"  remained  in  force,  and,  though  modified  by  a 
still  further  reduction  of  the  duties  on  molasses,  to  one  penny 
per  gallon,  it  continued  to  give  great  dissatisfaction,  especially 
in  the  northern  colonies.  Another  modification  of  that  act 
prohibited  all  direct  trade  with  France.  But  iron  and  lumber, 
lately  placed  in  the  list  of  "  enumerated  articles,"  were  allowed 
to  be  exported  to  European  ports  south  of  Cape  Finisterre. 
196 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  197 

The  opponents  of  the  Stamp  Act,  or  some  of  them, 
especially  Pitt,  had  taken  a  distinction  between  a  direct  tax 
levied  on  the  colonies,  and  commercial  imposts  which  might 
be  supposed  to  fall  under  the  admitted  parliamentary  right 
of  regulating  trade.  Of  this  distinction  Townshend  took 
advantage  in  framing  his  new  project — but  in  one  respect  his 
bill  violated  the  established  policy  of  the  mother  country. 
The  royal  negative  had  been  repeatedly  placed  on  colonial 
acts  levying  imposts  on  British  goods.  But  this  bill,  along 
with  tea,  included  paints,  paper,  glass,  and  lead — articles  of 
British  produce — as  objects  of  custom-house  taxation  in  the 
cJ-jnies.  The  exportation  of  tea  to  America  was  encouraged 
by  another  act,  allowing  for  five  years  a  drawback  of  the 
whole  duty  payable  on  the  importation. 

The  impossibility  of  enforcing  the  Stamp  Act,  not  any 
sense  of  right  or  justice,  had  produced  its  repeal.  This  new 
act  of  Townshend's,  the  immediate  cause  of  all  the  subse- 
quent troubles,  was  supposed  to  be  of  easier  execution,  and 
passed  with  very  little  opposition.  By  another  act,  reorgan- 
izing the  colonial  custom-house  system,  a  Board  of  Revenue 
Commissioners  for  America  was  established,  to  have  its  seat 
at  Boston.  (June,  1767.) 

The  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  consisted  at 
this  time  of  upward  of  a  hundred  members,  by  far  the  most 
numerous  Assembly  in  America.  Its  debates  had  begun  to 
attract  attention,  and  a  gallery  had  lately  been  erected  for 
the  accommodation  of  spectators.  The  council,  purged  by 
dropping  Hutchinson  and  several  other  officials,  was  now 
chiefly  influenced  by  James  Bowdoin.  His  grandfather,  a 
French  Huguenot,  had  migrated  to  New  England  shortly 
after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  His  father,  from 
very  small  beginnings,  had  acquired  the  largest  fortune  in 
Boston,  all  of  which,  being  an  only  child,  Bowdoin  had  inher- 
ited at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  In  the  prime  of  life,  of  ele- 
vated character  and  a  studious  turn  of  mind,  for  several  years 
past  a  member  of  the  council,  he  acted  in  close  concert  with 
Adams,  to  whose  impetuous  ardor  and  restless  activity  his 
less  excitable  but  not  less  firm  temper  served  as  a  useful 
counterpoise.  (1768.) 

Meanwhile  the  merchants  had  been  greatly  irritated  by 
new  strictness  in  the  collection  of  duties,  and  by  suits  even 
17* 


198  HISTORICAL  AND 

for  past  breaches  of  the  revenue  laws.  Shortly  after  the 
meeting  of  the  new  General  Court,  the  seizure  of  the  sloop 
Liberty,  belonging  to  Hancock,  on  the  charge  of  having 
smuggled  on  shore  a  cargo  of  wine  from  Madeira,  occasioned 
a  great  riot.  The  newly-appointed  revenue  commissioners 
fled  for  their  lives,  first  on  board  a  ship-of-war  in  the  harbor, 
and  then  to  the  barracks  on  Castle  Island,  where  a  company 
of  British  artillery  was  stationed.  A  town  meeting,  held  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  petitioned  the  governor  to  remove  the  ship-of- 
war  from  the  harbor.  The  council  passed  resolutions  strongly 
condemning  the  rioters,  but  would  not  advise  that  the  com- 
missioners might  safely  return  to  the  town,  nor  could  the 
governor  induce  them  to  take  any  decided  step  of  any  sort. 
The  House  took  no  notice  at  all  of  the  matter.  An  attempt 
to  prosecute  those  engaged  in  the  riot  failed  for  want  of  wit- 
nesses, and  even  the  proceedings  against  the  vessel  had  to 
be  given  up  for  the  same  cause. 

Before  news  had  reached  England,  of  the  late  riot  in  Boston, 
two  regiments  from  Halifax  had  been  ordered  thither.  When 
news  of  that  riot  arrived,  two  additional  regiments  were 
ordered  from  Ireland.  The  arrival  of  an  officer,  sent  by 
Gage  from  New  York,  to  provide  quarters  for  these  troops, 
occasioned  a  town  meeting  in  Boston,  by  which  the  governor 
was  requested  to  summon  a  new  General  Court,  which  he 
peremptorily  refused  to  do.  The  meeting  then  recommended 
a  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  towns  in  the  province, 
to  assemble  at  Boston  in  ten  days;  "in  consequence  of  pre- 
vailing apprehensions  of  a  war  with  France  " — such  was  the 
pretense — they  advised  all  persons  not  already  provided  with 
fire-arms  to  procure  them  at  once  ;  they  also  appointed  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer,  to  be  observed  by  all  the  Congrega- 
tional societies.  Delegates  from  more  than  a  hundred  towns 
met  accordingly  at  the  day  appointed,  chose  Gushing,  speaker 
of  the  late  House,  as  their  chairman,  and  petitioned  Bernard 
to  summon  a  General  Court.  The  governor  not  only  refused 
to  receive  their  petition,  but  denounced  the  meeting  as  trea- 
sonable. In  view  of  this  charge,  the  proceedings  were  exceed- 
ingly cautious  and  moderate.  All  pretensions  to  political 
authority  were  expressly  disclaimed.  In  the  course  of  a  four 
days'  session,  a  petition  to  the  king  was  agreed  to,  and  a 
letter  to  the  agent,  De  Berdt,  of  which  the  chief  burden  was 


EEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  199 

to  defend  the  province  against  the  charge  of  a  rebellious 
spirit.  Such  was  the  first  of  those  popular  conventions,  des- 
tined within  a  few  years  to  assume  the  whole  political  author- 
ity of  the  colonies. 

The  day  after  the  adjournment,  the  troops  from  Halifax 
arrived.  There  was  room  in  the  barracks  at  the  castle,  but 
Gage,  alarmed  at  the  accounts  from  Massachusetts,  had  sent 
orders  from  New  York  to  have  the  two  regiments  quartered 
in  the  town.  The  council  were  called  upon  to  find  quarters, 
but  by  the  very  terms  of  the  Quartering  Act,  as  they  alleged, 
till  the  barracks  were  full  there  was  no  necessity  to  provide 
quarters  elsewhere.  Barnard  insisted  that  the  barracks  had 
been  reserved  for  the  two  regiments  expected  from  Ireland, 
and  must,  therefore,  be  considered  as  already  full.  The 
council  replied,  that,  even  allowing  that  to  be  the  case,  by 
the  terms  of  the  act,  the  provision  of  quarters  belonged  not 
to  them,  but  to  the  local  magistrates.  There  was  a  large 
building  in  Boston  belonging  to  the  province,  known  as  the 
"  Manufactory  House/7  and  occupied  by  a  number  of  poor 
families.  Barnard  presses  tne  council  to  advise  that  this 
building  be  cleared,  ami  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the 
troops  ;  but  they  utter1  y  refused.  The  governor  then  under- 
took to  do  it  on  his  cwn  authority.  The  troops  had  already 
landed,  under  ccvev  of  the  ships  of  war,  to  the  number  of  a 
thousand  men.  Some  of  them  appeared,  to  demand  an 
entrance  into  the  Manufactory  House ;  but  the  tenants  were 
encouraged  to  keep  possession ;  nor  did  the  governor  venture 
to  use  force.  One  of  the  regiments  encamped  on  the  Com- 
mon ;  for  a  part  of  the  other  regiment,  which  had  no  tents, 
the  temporary  use  of  Faneuil  Hall  was  reluctantly  yielded ; 
to  the  rest  of  it,  the  Town  House,  used  also  as  a  State  House, 
all  except  the  council  chamber,  was  thrown  open  by  the 
governor's  order.  It  was  Sunday.  The  Town  House  was 
directly  opposite  the  meeting-house  of  the  First  Church.  Can- 
non were  planted  in  front  of  it ;  sentinels  were  stationed  in 
the  streets ;  the  inhabitants  were  challenged  as  they  passed. 
The  devout  were  greatly  aggravated  and  annoyed  by  the 
beating  of  drums,  and  the  marching  of  the  troops. 

Presently  Gage  came  to  Boston  to  urge  the  provision  of 
quarters.  The  council  directed  his  attention  to  the  terms 
of  the  act,  and  referred  him  to  the  selectmen.  As  the  act 


200  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

spoke  only  of  justices  of  the  peace,  the  selectmen  declined  to 
take  any  steps  in  the  matter.  Bernard  then  constituted  what 
he  called  a  Board  of  Justices,  and  required  them  to  find 
quarters ;  but  they  did  not  choose  to  exercise  a  doubtful  and 
unpopular  authority.  Gage  was  finally  obliged  to  quarter 
the  troops  in  houses  which  he  hired  for  that  purpose,  and  to 
procure  out  of  his  own  military  chest  the  firing,  bedding,  and 
other  articles  mentioned  in  the  Quartering  Act,  the  council 
having  declined  to  order  any  expenditure  for  those  purposes, 
on  the  ground  that  the  appropriation  of  money  belonged 
exclusively  to  the  General  Court. 

The  seventeen  months  during  which  the  British  troops 
had  been  stationed  in  Boston,  even  the  agreement  of  the 
commanding  officer  to  use  only  a  single  drum  and  fife  on 
Sundays,  had  by  no  means  reconciled  the  townspeople  to 
their  presence.  A  weekly  paper,  the  "Journal  of  the 
Times,"  was  filled  with  all  sorts  of  stories,  some  true,  but 
the  greater  part  false  or  exaggerated,  on  purpose  to  keep 
up  prejudice  against  the  soldiers.  A  mob  of  men  and  boys, 
encouraged  by  the  sympathy  of  the  mass  of  the  inhabitants, 
made  it  a  constant  practice  to  insult  and  provoke  them.  The 
result  to  be  expected  soon  followed.  After  numerous  fights 
with  straggling  soldiers,  a  serious  collision  at  length  took 
place.  A  picket  guard  of  eight  men,  provoked  beyond  en- 
durance by  words  and  blows,  fired  into  a  crowd,  killed  three 
persons,  and  dangerously  wounded  five  others.  The  bells 
were  rung;  a  cry  spread  through  the  town — "the  soldiers 
are  rising."  It  was  late  at  night ;  but  the  population  poured 
into  the  streets ;  nor  was  it  without  difficulty  that  a  general 
combat  was  prevented.  The  next  morning,  at  an  early  hour, 
Faneuil  Hall  was  filled  with  an  excited  and  indignant  assem- 
bly. At  a  town  meeting,  legally  warned,  held  that  afternoon 
in  the  old  South  Meeting-house,  the  largest  building  in  the 
town,  it  was  voted  "that  nothing  could  be  expected  to  restore 
peace,  and  prevent  blood  and  carnage,  but  the  immediate 
removal  of  the  troops."  A  committee  was  appointed,  with 
Samuel  Adams  as  chairman,  to  carry  this  vote  to  the  lieu- 
tenant governor  and  council.  Adams  entered  the  council 
chamber  at  the  head  of  his  committee,  and  delivered  his 
message.  Colonel  Dairy mple,  the  commander  of  the  troops, 
was  present,  as  was  the  commander  of  the  ships  of  war  in 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  201 

the  harbor.  Hutchinson  disclaimed  any  authority  over  the 
soldiers.  Adams  answered  by  a  reference  to  that  clause  in 
the  charter  which  declared  the  governor,  or,  in  his  absence, 
the  lieutenant  governor,  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  in  the  province.  After  a  consultation 
with  Dalrymple,  Hutchinson  replied  that  the  colonel  was 
willing  to  remove  one  of  the  regiments  to  the  castle,  if  that 
would  satisfy  the  people.  "Sir,"  said  Adams,  "if  the  lieu- 
tenant governor,  or  Colonel  Dalrymple,  or  both  together, 
have  authority  to  remove  one  regiment,  they  have  authority 
to  remove,  two ;  and  nothing  short  of  the  departure  of  both 
regiments  will  satisfy  the  public  mind,  or  preserve  the  peace 
of  the  province."  The  town  meeting,  after  the  return  of 
their  committee,  voted  the  lieutenant  governor's  offer  unsat- 
isfactory. Hutchinson  and  Dalrymple  seem  to  have  been 
mutually  anxious  to  shift  upon  each  other  the  responsibility 
of  yielding  to  the  popular  demand.  Finally,  upon  the  unan- 
imous advice  of  the  council,  it  was  agreed  that  all  the  troops 
should  be  removed,  the  colonel  pledging  his  honor  that  mean 
while  not  a  single  soldier  should  b3  seen  in  the  streets  after 
dark.  The  funeral  of  the  slain,  attended  by  a  vast  concourse 
of  people,  was  celebrated  with  all  possible  pomp.  The  story 
of  the  "Boston  Massacre,"  for  so  it  was  called,  exaggerated 
into  a  ferocious  and  unprovoked  assault  by  brutal  soldiers  on 
a  defenseless  people,  produced  every  where  intense  excite- 
ment. The  officer  and  soldiers  of  the  picket  guard  were 
indicted  and  tried  for  murder.  They  were  defended,  how- 
ever, by  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Q.uincy,  two  young  lawyers, 
among  the  most  zealous  of  the  popular  leaders ;  and  so  clear 
a  case  was  made  out  irf>  their  behalf,  that  they  were  all  ac- 
quitted except  two,  who  were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter, 
and  slightly  punished. 

The  British  cabinet,  after  great  struggles,  had  been  quite 
sifted  of  its  Whig  members.  The  "king's  friends"  section 
of  it  had  expelled  all  their  opponents,  and  Francis  North, 
eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Guilford,  by  courtesy  Lord  North, 
as  the  leader  of  that  section,  had  risen  to  the  head  of  the 
ministry.  As  it  happened,  on  the  very  day  of  the  Boston 
massacre  Lord  North  brought  forward  the  promised  motion 
to  repeal  the  whole  of  Townshend's  act  except  the  duty  on 
tea.  That  act,  he  observed,  had  been  the  occasion  of  most 


202  HISTORICAL  AND 

dangerous,  violent,  and  illegal  combinations  in  America 
against  the  importation  and  use  of  British  manufactures. 
The  British  merchants  had  petitioned  against  it.  As  to  arti- 
cles of  British  produce,  ever  to  have  taxed  them  was  indeed 
an  absurd  violation  of  established  policy.  The  tax  on  tea 
tood  on  a  different  ground.  When  that  tax  was  imposed,  a 
Irawback  had  been  allowed  on  the  exportation  of  tea  to 
America ;  and  as  the  colonists  were  thus  relieved  of  a  duty 
amounting,  on  an  average,  to  a  shilling  a  pound,  they  had 
no  right  to  complain  of  a  tax  of  threepence,  since  they 
gained,  in  fact,  ninepence  the  pound  by  the  change.  He 
could  have  wished  to  repeal  the  whole  act,  could  that  have 
been  done  without  giving  up  the  right  of  taxing  the  colo- 
nies— a  right  he  would  contend  for  to  the  last  hour  of  his 
life.  The  proposed  repeal,  without  any  relaxation  of  author- 
ity, was  intended  as  a  persuasive  to  bring  the  colonists  back 
to  their  duty.  The  existing  combinations  in  the  colonies, 
against  the  use  of  British  manufactures,  he  thought,  would 
soon  come  to  an  end. 

Pownall  moved  to  include  tea  in  the  repeal,  supporting 
this  amendment  rather  on  grounds  of  expediency  and  com- 
mercial policy  than  as  a  matter  of  colonial  right.  He  was 
seconded  by  Conway  and  Barre.  Grenville  declared  that 
when  he  laid  the  stamp  tax,  he  had  the  best  information 
that  it  would  be  submitted  to,  In  laying  that  tax  he  had 
acted  systematically,  to  make  every  portion  of  the  king's 
dominions  bear  a  part  of  the  public  burdens.  When  that 
act  raised  troubles  in  America,  the  ministers  who  succeeded 
him  acted  systematically  too.  Theirs,  perhaps,  was  the  next 
best  system  to  his  own.  They  todk  the  Americans  by  the 
hand,  and  restored  things  to  the  state  they  were  in  before 
the  passing  of  the  Stamp  Act.  In  this  statement,  however, 
Grenville  overlooked  the  Sugar  Act,  which  the  Eockingham 
ministry  had  left  in  full  force  ;  but  that  he  probably  regarded 
as  a  mere  modification  of  the  old  Molasses  Act,  though  essen- 
tially different  from  it  in  principle,  involving  the  claim  of 
parliamentary  taxation  hardly  less  than  the  Stamp  Act  itself. 
"Since  that  time,"  said  Grenville,  "no  minister  had  acted 
with  common  sense.  The  next  ministry  laid  a  tax  diametri- 
cally repugnant  to  commercial  principles,  bringing  in  no 
money,  and  throwing  North  America  into  ten  times  greater 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  203 

flame  than  before."  He  was  in  favor  of  easing  the  Ameri- 
cans ;  but  the  ministers  had  no  plan.  The  partial  repeal 
which  they  proposed  would  do  no  good;  and  the  proposed 
amendment  was  so  very  little  better,  that  he  did  not  think 
it  worth  while  to  force  it  upon  a  reluctant  ministry.  He, 
therefore,  should  not  vote  upon  the  question.  The  amend- 
ment was  defeated,  two  hundred  and  four  to  one  hundred 
and  forty-two;  and,  on  a  subsequent  day,  Lord 'North's  bill 
of  repeal  became  law.  The  obnoxious  Quartering  Act,  lim- 
ited by  its  terms  to  three  years,  was  suffered  silently  to 
expire.  But  the  Sugar  Act,  and  especially  the  tax  on  tea, 
as  they  involved  the  whole  principle  of  parliamentary  taxa- 
tion, were  quite  sufficient  to  keep  up  the  discontent  of  the 
colonies. 

Lord  North's  act,  in  one  respect,  accomplished  its  object, 
in  furnishing  an  excuse  for  abandoning  the  non-importation 
and  non-consumption  agreements,  which  soon  became  limited 
to  the  article  of  tea.  Those  agreements,  though  only  par- 
tially observed,  and  that  not  without  great  jealousies  and 
heart-burnings,  were  not,  however,  without  permanent  con- 
sequences. The  discontinuance  of  that  pomp  of  mourning 
and  funeral  expenses,  for  excess  in  which  the  colonists  had 
been  hitherto  distinguished,  takes  its  date  from  this  occasion. 
The  infant  manufactures  of  America  received,  too,  from  these 
agreements,  a  strong  impulse.  Home-made  became  all  the 
fashion.  The  graduating  class  at  Cambridge  took  their 
degrees  this  year  in  homespun  suits. 

The  trade  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  is  stated 
for  the  year  1770,  as  follows,  and  the  average  of  the  last 
ten  years,  allowing  for  a  moderate  increase,  had  not  been 
materially  different : 

Exports  to  Great  Britain. 

New  England £148,011  $657,108 

New  York 69,882  310,276 

Pennsylvania 28,109  124,803 

Virginia  and  iMaryland 435,094  1,931,801 

Carolinas 278,097  1,234,750 

Georgia 55,532  234,352 

£1,014,725          $4,493,150 


20-i  HISTORICAL  AND 


Imports  from  Great  Britain. 

New  England £394,451  $1,751,362 

New  York 475,991  2,113,400 

Pennsylvania 134,881  599,093 

Virginia  and  Maryland 717,782  3,186,952 

Carolinas 146,272  649,446 

Georgia 56, 193  249,496 


£1,925,570         $8,549,749 

The  surplus  of  imports  was  paid  for  by  the  profits  of  the 
trade  with  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  West  Indies. 

The  taxation- dispute,  after  a  ten  years'  growth,  was  now 
fast  coming  to  a  head.  The  .  ministers  saw  with  no  little 
vexation,  that  the  tax  on  tea,  retained  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  vindicating  the  authority  of  Parliament,  was  sub- 
stantially nullified,  partly  by  smuggling,  and  partly  by  the 
non-importation  and  non-consumption  agreements,  observed 
as  yet  with  considerable  fidelity,  especially  in  the  middle  and 
southern  colonies.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  the  more 
politic  course,  to  have  given  time  for  these  combinations  to 
die  away,  leaving  the  gradual  introduction  of  the  use  of 
duty-paid  tea  to  the  vigilance  of  the  customhouse  officers,  to 
appetite,  and  commercial  cupidity  and  rivalry.  Instead  of 
adopting  that  temporizing  policy,  the  impatient  ministers 
resolved  to  force  at  once  upon  the  reluctant  colonies  a  large 
quantity  of  the  obnoxious  article ;  well  satisfied  that,  if 
landed  and  offered  for  sale,  it  would  easily  find  its  way  into 
consumption.  (1773.) 

By  an  act  of  the  preceding  session,  the  allowance  of  draw- 
back on  teas  exported,  had  been  reduced  to  three-fifths  of 
the  duty.  So  far  as  America  was  concerned,  a  drawback  of 
the  whole  duty  was  now  revived.  The  existing  restraints 
upon  the  East  India  Company,  to  export  teas  on  their  own 
account,  were  also  repealed,  and  arrangements  were  present- 
ly entered  into  with  that  Company,  for  the  consignment  of 
several  cargoes  of  teas  to  the  principal  American  ports. 

No  sooner  did  this  project  become  known  in  America,  than 
steps  were  taken  to  counterwork  it.  A  public  meeting  of 
the  people  of  Philadelphia  protested,  in  eight  resolutions, 
against  taxation  by  Parliament ;  and  denounced  as  an 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  205 

enemy  to  his  country,"  "  whosoever  shall  aid  or  abet  in  unload- 
in^,  receiving,  or  vending  the  tea."  In  accordance  with  one 

O 7  O "  O 

of  the  resolutions,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  wait  on 
the  reputed  consignees  in  that  city,  "  to  request  them,  from 
a  regard  to  their  own  characters,  and  the  public  peace  and 
good  order  of  the  city  and  province,  immediately  to  resign 
their  apppointments."  The  Messrs.  Wharton  gave  a  satis- 
factory answer,  which  was  received  with  shouts  of  applause. 
Groans  and  hisses  greeted  the  refusal  of  another  firm  to 
commit  themselves  till  the  tea  arrived. 

The  names  of  three  well-known  firms  in  Boston,  presently 
began  to  be  noised  about  as  the  intended  consignees  of  the 
East  India  Company's  tea.  An  anonymous  notice  was  sent 
to  these  reputed  consignees  to  be  present  at  noon  on  a  cer- 
tain day,  under  Liberty  Tree,  to  resign  their  appointments, 
for  which  day  and  hour  an  anonymous  hand-bill  called  a  pub- 
lic meeting  to  hear  their  resignations.  Several  hundred 
persons  assembled  accordingly ;  the  consignees  not  appearing, 
a  committee  was  sent  to  wait  upon  them ;  but  this  committee 
they  treated  with  contempt. 

Two  days  after,  by  a  call  of  the  selectmen,  a  legal  town 
meeting  was  held,  at  which  Hancock  presided.  After  a  pre- 
amble of  their  own,  this  meeting  adopted  the  eight  Phila- 
delphia resolutions,  with  a  supplement,  acknowledging  some 
remissness  hitherto,  in  the  matter  of  the  agreement'  not  to 
import  or  consume  tea,  but  insisting  for  the  future  upon 
strict  observance.  A  committee,  appointed  in  the  terms  of 
one  of  the  resolutions,  waited  upon  the  consignees  to  request 
them  to  resign.  After  some  little  delay  and  evasion,  they 
replied  that,  being  as  yet  without  any  definite  advices  from 
England,  they  could  give  no  decisive  answer — a  reply,  voted 
by  the  meeting,  "  unsatisfactory"  and  "  daringly  affront! ve." 

News  presently  arriving  that   the  tea  ships  had  sailed, 
and  might  be   daily  expected,  another   town   meeting  was 
summoned  for  the  next  day,  to  consult  "  what  further  appli 
cation   shall  be   made  to  the  consignees,  or  otherwise  to  act 
as  the  town  shall  think  fit  at  the  present  dangerous  crisis." 
In  the  evening,  the  house  of  Clarke,  one  of  the  consignees, 
was  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  making  many  offensive  noises, 
and  a  pistol  having  been  fired  at  them,  they  retorted  by 
smashing  in  the  windows. 
IP 


206  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

The  town  meeting,  the  next  day,  sent  a  committee  to  the 
the  consignees,  to  inquire  definitely,  whether  or  not  they  in- 
tended to  resign.  Upon  receipt  of  an  answer  in  the  nega- 
tive, the  meeting  dissolved  without  a  word.  This  evidence 
of  a  determination  to  act  instead  of  resolving,  struck  terror 
into  the  consignees.  They  presented  a  petition  the  next  day, 
to  the  governor  and  council,  asking  to  resign  themselves 
and  the  property  committed  to  their  care,  into  the  hands 
"  of  his  excellency  and  their  honors,"  and  praying  them  to 
take  measures  for  landing  and  securing  the  teas.  The 
council,  led  by  Bowdoin,  were  very  little  inclined  to  interfere. 
They  deprecated  the  late  riot  at  Clarke's  house,  at  least  in 
words,  and  advised  that  the  rioters  be  prosecuted ;  but  they 
asked  further  time  to  consider  the  petition.  Several  adjourn- 
ments accordingly  took  place,  and  before  any  decision  was 
reached,  one  of  the  tea  ships  arrived.  The  council  having 
met  next  day,  presented  a  paper  to  the  governor,  declining 
to  become  parties  to  an  unconstitutional  attempt  to  levy 
taxes,  against  which  the  General  Court  had  so  repeatedly 
protested,  or  to  make  themselves  chargeable  for  the  tea,  by 
interfering  to  receive  it.  Meetings  in  all  the  neighboring 
towns  had  resolved  to  sustain  Boston ;  and  while  the  council 
was  thus  declining  to  intermeddle  with  the  matter,  a  mass 
meeting,  or  "  body/7  as  they  called  themselves,  of  the  people 
of  Boston  and  the  neighboring  towns,  assembled  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  sent  for  the  owner  of  the  tea  ship,  ordered  her  to  be 
moored  at  a  certain  wharf,  and  appointed  a  watch  of  twenty- 
five  volunteers  to  watch  her.  It  was  resolved  to  send  her 
back  with  her  cargo,  and  the  master  and  the  owner  were 
charged  not  to  attempt,  at  their  peril,  to  unlade  her.  The 
consignees,  among  whom  were  two  of  the  governor's  sons, 
frightened  at  these  demonstrations,  took  refuge  at  the  castle, 
where  was  a  regiment  of  British  regulars.  The  "  body " 
having  met  again  the  next  day,  the  governor  sent  the  sheriff 
of  the  county  with  a  proclamation,  declaring  the  meeting  ille- 
gal, and  ordering  the  people  to  disperse.  They  heard  the 
message,  hissed  it,  and  voted  unanimously  not  to  regard  it. 
The  governor  was  powerless.  He  had  ordered  the  Cadets, 
his  guard  of  honor,  to  be  in  readiness ;  but  what  could  he 
expect  of  a  company  commanded  by  Hancock  ?  The  troops 
at  the  castle,  and  the  ships  of  war  in  the  harbor,  had  no 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  207 

warrant  to  interfere  in  a  purely  municipal  matter ;  nor  was 
there  any  ground  for  the  governor  to  call  upon  them,  till 
something  in  the  nature  of  riot,  if  not  rebellion,  had  actually 
occurred.  The  consignees  offered,  if  the  tea  might  be  landed, 
to  keep  it  in  store  till  orders  came  from  England ;  but  this 
was  rejected,  and  the  master  and  the  owner  of  the  vessel, 
were  both  constrained  to  promise  to  carry  it  back.  The 
owners  of  two  other  vessels  on  the  way,  were  required  to 
make  a  similar  promise.  Tea  was  denounced  as  a  "perni- 
cious weed,"  and  all  persons  who  might  henceforward  be 
concerned  in  its  importation,  were  declared  enemies  of  their 
country.  After  a  resolution  to  carry  the  matter  through,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives  and  property,  the  "body"  dissolved, 
leaving  matters  in  the  hands  of  a  committee. 

The  owner  of  the  vessel  was  very  little  disposed  to  carry 
out  the  agreement  extorted  from  him.  The  governor  was 
resolved  that  no  clearance  should  be  granted  till  the  cargo 
was  landed.  At  the  end  of  thirty  days  from  her  arrival,  the 
vessel  would  be  liable  to  seizure,  for  non-payment  of  duties. 
Two  other  tea  ships  presently  arrived,  and  were  placed  in 
custody  like  the  other.  Provoked  and  alarmed  at  the  non- 
departure  of  the  first  vessel,  the  "body"  re-assembled.  The 
owner  was  sent  for,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  go 
with  him  to  demand  a  clearance,  which  the  collector,  after 
taking  time  to  consider,  refused  to  give  till  the  cargo  was 
landed.  The  owner  was  then  sent  anew  to  the  governor,  at 
his  country-house  at  Milton,  to  request  a  permit,  without 
which  the  vessel  could  not  pass  the  fort  and  the  ships-of-war 
in  the  harbor.  He  returned  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  an- 
nounced the  governor's  refusal ;  he  had  no  power,  he  said, 
to  grant  the  permit  till  a  clearance  was  first  exhibited. 
This  had  been  anticipated  and  prepared  for.  A  band  of 
some  fifty  men,  "very  dark-complexioned  persons,  dressed 
like  Mohawks,  of  very  grotesque  appearance,"  so  says  the 
Massachusetts  Gazette  of  that  day,  "  approached  the  hall 
with  an  imitation  of  the  war-whoop,  and,  while  Josiah  Quin- 
cy  harangued  the  people  on  the  necessity  of  adhering  to 
their  resolutions,  whatever  might  be  the  consequences,  the 
pretended  Mohawks  proceeded  to  the  wharf,  and  boarded  the 
tea  vessels.  It  was  now  six  oclock ;  the  evening  dusk  had 
set  in;  the  'body'  was  dissolved,  and  the  people,  hastening 


208  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

to  the  wharf,  looked  on  in  silent  anxiety,  while  in  the  course 
of  two  hours,  three  hundred  and  forty-two  chests  of  tea 
were  drawn  up  from  the  holds  of  the  vessels  and  emptied 
into  the  water." 

There  have  been  some  doubts  concerning  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  tea,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1773.  The  number 
of  the  ships,  and  the  place  where  they  were  situated,  is  not 
quite  certain.  One  gentleman,  now  living,  over  seventy  years 
of  age,  thinks  they  were  at  Hubbard's  Wharf,  as  it  was  then 
called,  about  half  way  between  Griffin's  (now  Liverpool)  and 
Foster's  Wharf,  and  that  the  number  of  ships  were  four  or 
five.  Another  gentleman,  who  is  seventy-five  years  of  age, 
and  who  was  one  of  the  guard  detached  from  the  new  grena- 
dier company,  says  that  he  spent  the  night,  but  one,  before 
the  destruction  of  the  tea,  in  company  with  General  Knox, 
then  a  private  in  that  company,  on  board  one  of  the  tea  ships ; 
that  this  ship  lay  on  the  south  side  of  Eussell's  Wharf ;  and 
and  that  there  were  two  more  on  the  north  side  of  the  same 
wharf,  and  he  thinks  one  or  two  at  Griffin's  Wharf.  A  gen- 
tleman now  living,  who  came  from  England  in  one  of  the  tea 
ships,  thinks  there  were  but  two,  but  is  uncertain  where  they 
lay.  A  song,  written  soon  after  the  time,  tells  of  "  Three 
ill-fated  ships  at  Griffin's  wharf."  The  whole  evidence  seems 
to  result  in  this :  there  were  three  ships — but  whether  at 
Kussell's  or  Griffin's  wharf,  or  one  or  more  at  each,  is  not 
certain.  The  number  of  chests  destroyed  was,  according  to  the 
newspapers  of  the  times,  342.  There  was  a  "body-meeting" 
on  the  16th  of  December,  1773.  This  matter  of  the  tea  was 
the  occasion  of  the  meeting.  The  meeting  began  at  Fanueil 
Hall,  but  that  place  not  being  large  enough,  it  was  adjourned 
to  the  Old  South,  and  even  that  place  could  not  contain  all 
who  came. 

Jonathan  Williams  was  moderator.  Among  the  spectators 
was  John  Eowe,  who  lived  in  Pond  street,  where  Mr.  Pres- 
cott  now  lives  ;  among  other  things,  he  said  :  "  Who  knows 
how  tea  will  mingle  with  salt  water?"  and  this  suggestion 
was  received  with  great  applause.  Governor  Hutchinson  was 
at  this  time  at  the  house  on  Milton  Hill,  where  Barney  Smith, 
Esq.,  lives.  A  committee  was  sent  from  the  meeting  to 
request  him  to  order  the  ships  to  depart.  While  they  were 
gone,  speeches  were  made,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 


EEVOLUTIOXARY  INCIDENTS.  209 

people  together.  The  committee  returned  ahout  sunset,  with 
his  answer,  that  he  could  not  interfere.  At  this  moment  the 
Indian  yell  was  heard  from  the  street.  Mr.  Samuel  Adams 
cried  out  that  it  was  a  trick  of  their  enemies  to  disturb  the 
meeting,  and  requested  the  people  to  keep  their  places — hut 
the  people  rushed  out,  and  accompanied  the  Indians  to  the 
ships.  The  number  of  persons  disguised  as  Indians  is  va- 
riously stated — none  put  it  lower  than  sixty,  none  higher 
than  eighty.  It  is  said  by  persons  who  were  present,  that 
nothing  was  destroyed  but  the  tea — and  this  was  not  done 
with  noise  and  tumult,  little  or  nothing  being  said  either  by 
the  agents  or  the  multitude  who  looked  on.  The  impression 
was  that  of  solemnity  rather  than  that  of  riot  and  confusion. 
The  destruction  was  effected  by  the  disguised  persons,  and 
some  young  men  who  volunteered  ;  one  of  the  latter  collected 
the  tea  which  fell  into  the  shoes  of  himself  and  companions, 
and  put  it  into  a  vial  and  sealed  it  up — which  vial  is  now  in 
his  possession,  containing  the  same  tea. 

The  contrivers  of  this  measure,  and  those  who  carried  it 
into  effect,  will  never  be  known ;  some  few  persons  have  been 
mentioned  as  being  among  the  disguised,  but  there  are  many 
and  obvious  reasons  why  secresy  then,  and  concealment  since, 
were  necessary.  None  of  the  persons  who  were  confidently 
said  to  have  been  of  the  party  (except  some  who  were  then  mi- 
nors or  very  young  men)  have  ever  admitted  that  they  were  so. 
The  person  who  appeared  to  know  more  than  any  one  I  ever 
spoke  with,  refused  to  mention  names.  Mr.  Samuel  Adams 
is  thought  to  have  been  in  the  counseling  of  this  exploit,  and 
many  other  men,  who  were  leaders  in  the  political  affairs  of 
the  times  ;  and  the  hall  of  council  is  said  to  have  been  in  the 
back-room  of  Edes  &  Gill's  printing-office,  at  the  corner  of 
the  alley  leading  to  Battle  street  church,  from  Court  street. 
There  are  very  few  a^ive  now  who  helped  to  empty  the 
chests  of  tea,  and  these  few  will  probably  be  as  prudent  as 
those  who  have  gone  before  them. 

At  length,  after  great  delays,  the  New  York  tea  ship 
arrived  at  Sandy  Hook.  The  pilots,  under  instructions  from 
the  city  committee,  refused  to  bring  her  up,  and  a  "  Com- 
mittee of  Vigilance"  soon  took  possession  of  her.  Brought 
to  town,  the  captain  was  informed  by  a  deputation  from  the 
city  committee  that  he  must  take  back  ship  and  cargo.  He 
18* 


210  HISTORICAL  AND 

desired  to  see  the  consignee,  and  was  escorted  to  him ;  but 
the  consignee  declined  to  give  any  orders.  Meanwhile, 
another  ship,  commanded  by  a  New  York  Captain,  arrived  at 
the  Hook,  and,  on  assurance  that  she  had  no  tea  on  board, 
was  allowed  to  come  to  town.  Bat  a  report  to  the  contrary 
soon  spread,  and  the  captain  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  that 
he  had  eighteen  chests,  not  belonging  to  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, but  a  private  adventure.  The  indignant  populace 
seized  the  tea  and  emptied  it  into  the  river.  A  day  or  two 
after,  with  great  parade,  headed  by  a  band  playing,  "  God 
save  the  King/'  the  bells  ringing,  and  colors  flying  from  the 
liberty  pole  and  the  shipping,  the  captain  of  the  East  India 
tea  ship  was  escorted  from  the  custom-house  to  a  pilot  boat, 
which  took  him  to  the  Hook,  where,  under  directions  of  the 
Committee  of  Vigilance,  the  anchors  were  weighed,  and  the 
vessel  started  on  her  homeward  voyage. 

The  Charleston  tea  ship  reached  that  city  the  same  day 
that  the  New  York  tea  ship  reached  the  Hook.  The  teas 
were  landed,  but  were  stored  in  damp  cellars,  where  they 
soon  became  worthless.  We  give  here  a  very  rare  copy  of 
the  resolutions  entered  upon,  at  a  great  meeting  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Philadelphia,  commending  the  course  of  the  Boston 
tea  rioters. 

A.  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was  held  at  the  State 
House,  on  the  18th  of  October,  at  which  great  numbers 
attended,  and  the  sense  of  the  city  was  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions : — 

1.  That  the  disposal  of  their  own  property  is  the  inherent 
right  of  freemen;  that  there  can  be  no   property  in   that 
which  another  can,  of  right,  take  from  us  without  our  con- 
sent ;  that  the  claim  of  Parliament  to  tax  America,  is,  in 
other  words,  a  claim  of  right  to  levy  contributions  on  us  at 
pleasure. 

2.  That  the  duty  imposed  by  Parliament  upon  tea  landed 
in  America,  is  a  tax  on  the  Americans,  or  levying  contribu- 
tions on  them  without  their  consent. 

3.  That  the  express  purpose  for  which  the  tax  is  levied  on 
the  Americans,  namely,  for  the  support  of  government,  admin- 
istration of  justice,  and  defense  of  his  Majesty's  dominions  in 
America,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  render  Assemblies  useless, 
and  to  introduce  arbitrary  government  and  slavery. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  211 

4.  That  a  virtuous  and  steady  opposition  to  this  ministe- 
rial plan  of  governing  America,  is   absolutely  necessary  to 
preserve  even  the  shadow  of  liberty,  and  it  is  a  duty  which 
every  freeman  in  America  owes  to  his  country,  to  himself, 
and  posterity. 

5.  That  the  resolution  lately  entered  into  by  the  East 
India  Company,  to  send  out  their  tea  to  America,  subject  to 
the  payment  of  duties  on  its  being  landed  here,  is  an  open 
attempt  to  enforce  the  ministerial  plan,  and  a  violent  attack 
upon  the  liberties  of  America. 

6.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  American  to  oppose  this 
attempt. 

7.  That  whoever  shall  directly  or  indirectly  countenance 
this  attempt,  or  in  anywise  aid  or  abet  in  unloading,  receiv- 
ing, or  vending  the  tea  sent,  or  to  be  sent  out  by  the  East 
India  Company,  while  it  remains  subject  to  the  payment  of  a 
duty  here,  is  an  enemy  to  his  country. 

8.  That  a  committee  be   immediately  chosen  to  wait  on 
those  gentlemen  who,  it  is  reported,  are   appointed  by  the 
East  India  Company,  to  receive  and  sell  the  said  tea,  and 
request  them,  from  a  regard  to  their  own  character,  and  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  the  city  and  province,  immediately 
to  resign  their  appointment. 

Upon  an  hour's  notice,  on  Monday  morning,  a  public  meet- 
ing was  called,  and  the  State  House  not  being  sufficient  to 
hold  the  numbers  assembled,  they  adjourned  into  the  Square. 
This  meeting  is  allowed  by  all  to  be  the  most  respectable, 
both  in  the  numbers  and  rank  of  those  who  attended  it,  that 
has  been  known  in  this  city.  After  a  short  introduction,  the 
following  resolutions  were  not  only  agreed  to,  but  the  public 
approbation  testified  in  the  warmest  manner. 

1.  That  the  tea,  on  board  the  ship  Polly,  Captain  Ayres, 
shall  not  be  landed. 

2.  That  Captain  Ayres  shall  neither  enter  nor  report  his 
vessel  at  the  custom-house. 

3.  That  Captain  Ayres  shall  carry  back  the  tea  immediately. 

4.  That  Captain  Ayres  shall  immediately  send  a  pilot  on 
board  his  vessel,  to  take  charge  of  her,  and  proceed  to  Eeedy 
Island,  next  high  water. 

5.  That  the  captain  shall  be  allowed  to  stay  in  town  till 
to-morrow,  to  provide  necessaries  for  his  voyage. 


212  IllSTOKICAL   AND 

6.  That  he  shall  then  be  obliged  to  leave  the  town  and 
proceed  to  his  vessel,  and  make  the  best  of  his  way  out  of 
our  river  and  bay. 

7.  That  a  committee  of  four  gentlemen  be  appointed  to 
see  these  resolves  carried  into  execution. 

The  Assembly  was  then  informed  of  the  spirit  and  resolu- 
tion of  New  York,  and  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  the  conduct 
of  the  people  of  Boston,  whereupon  it  was  unanimously 
resolved — 

That  this  assembly  highly  approve  the  conduct  and  spirit 
of  the  people  of  New  York,  Charleston,  and  Boston,  and 
return  their  hearty  thanks  to  the  people  of  Boston  for  their 
resolution  in  destroying  the  tea,  rather  than  suffering  it  to 
be  landed. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  troubles  thicken — Gage  re-inforced — Assembly  of  the  first  Continental 
Congress  at  Philadelphia. 

The  unscrupulous  and  brutal  Gage  had  now  resumed  com- 
mand of  the  British  forces,  as  well  as  entered  upon  his  ap- 
pointment as  governor  of  Massachusetts.  Boston  Neck  had 
been  fortified  by  him,  and  seven  regiments  been  added  to  his 
command.  The  "  non-importation  and  consumption  bill,"  re- 
commended by  the  General  Court,  had  been  agreed  to  by 
many  of  the  colonies,  and  the  general  aspect  of  affairs  be- 
came threatening  for  the  young  Sam. 

The  Congress,  which  had  now  assembled,  by  agreement,  to 
consider  the  affairs  of  the  country,  commenced  their  session 
at  Philadelphia,  in  defiance  of  the  strenuous  opposition  of 
Gage.  This  Congress  consisted  of  fifty-three  delegates,  the 
Leading  men  of  twelve  provinces,  Georgia,  alone,  of  the 
originally  British  colonies,  being  unrepresented.  Beside 
others  of  less  note,  there  were  present  in  this  assembly  the 
two  Adamses,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Sherman  and  Deane,  of 
Connecticut ;  Philip  Livingston,  Jay,  and  Duane,  of  New 
York ;  William  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey ;  Galloway,  of 
Pennsylvania;  Eodney,  Road,  and  M'Kean,  of  Delaware; 
Chase,  of  Maryland ;  Randolph,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Wash- 
ington, and  Henry,  of  Virginia;  the  two  Rutledges,  and 
Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina.  The  post  of  honor  was  freely 
conceded  to  Virginia,  by  the  choice  of  the  now  aged  Peyton 
Randolph  as  president.  Charles  Thompson,  late  master  of 
the  Quaker  academy  at  Philadelphia,  was  chosen  secretary. 
Samuel  Adams,  himself  a  stiff  Congregationalist,  moved  the 
appointment  of  an  Episcopal  chaplain,  and  Jacob  Duche%  a 

213 


214  HISTORICAL  AND 

popular  preacher  of  Philadelphia,  was  accordingly  appointed. 
As  no  means  were  at  hand  to  estimate  the  relative  import- 
ance of  the  colonies,  it  was  agreed  that  each  province  should 
have  a  single  vote.  All  proceedings  were  to  he  with  closed 
doors,  and  nothing  was  to  be  published  except  by  order. 

A  committee  of  two  from  each  province  reported,  in  the 
form  of  a  series  of  resolves,  accepted  and  adopted  by  the 
Congress,  a  "  Declaration  of  Colonial  Eights."  The  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  liberty,  and  property  were  claimed  in  this 
Declaration  as  natural  rights.  The  privilege  of  being  bound 
by  no  law,  to  which  they  had  not  consented  by  their  repres- 
entatives, was  claimed  for  the  colonists  in  their  character  of 
British  subjects.  The  sole  and  exclusive  power  of  legislation 
for  the  colonies  was  declared  to  reside  in  their  respective 
Assemblies,  reserving  to  Parliament  the  enactment  of  such 
laws  only  as  might  be  essential  to  the  bona  fide  regulation 
of  trade,  but  excluding  all  taxation,  internal  or  external. 
The  common  law  of  England  was  claimed  as  the  birthright 
of  the  colonists,  including  the  right  of  trial  by  a  jury  of  the 
vicinage,  the  right  of  public  meetings,  and  of  petition.  A 
protest  was  made  against  standing  armies  maintained  in  the 
colonies  without  their  consent ;  and  a  similar  protest  against 
.  legislation  by  councils  dependent  on  the  crown — this  last  in 
allusion  to  the  Quebec  Act.  All  immunities  hitherto  enjoyed 
in  the  colonies,  whether  by  charter  or  custom,  were  claimed 
as  established  rights,  beyond  the  power  of  the  mother  country 
to  abrogate.  Eleven  acts  of  Parliament,  passed  since  the 
accession  of  George  III. — the  Sugar  Act,  the  Stamp  Act,  the 
two  Quartering  Acts,  the  Tea  Act,  the  Act  Suspending  the 
New  York  Legislature,  the  two  Acts  for  the  Trial  in  Great 
Britain  for  offenses  committed  in  America,  the  Boston  Port 
Bill,  the  Act  for  Eegulating  the  Government  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  the  Quebec  Act — were  enumerated,  in  conclusion, 
as  having  been  passed  in  derogation  of  the  rights  of  the 
colonies.  (1774.) 

As  means  for  enforcing  this  claim  of  rights,  fourteen 
articles  were  agreed  to,  as  the  basis  of  an  "  American  Asso- 
ciation," pledging  the  associators  to  an  entire  commercial 
non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  West 
Indies,  and  the  non-consumption  of  tea  and  .British  goods  : 
this  non-intercourse  to  be  extended  to  such  provinces  of  North 


BEVOLUTTONARY  INCIDENTS.  215 

America  as  should  decline  to  come  into  the  Association,  and 
to  last  till  the  obnoxious  acts  of  Parliament  were  repealed. 
The  non-importation  clauses  were  to  commence  in  December, 
hut  the  non-exportation  clauses  were  postponed  for  nine  months 
longer.  The  slave  trade  was  specially  denounced,  and  en- 
tire abstinence  from  it,  and  from  any  trade  with  those  con- 
cerned with  it,  formed  a  part  of  the  Association.  The 
associators  were  also  pledged  to  encourage  the  breeding  of 
sheep,  and  the  disuse  of  mourning.  Traders  were  not  to  be 
allowed  to  enhance  the  price  of  goods  in  consequence  of  this 
agreement.  Committees  were  to  be  appointed  in  every 
county,  city,  and  town,  to  detect  and  to  publish  the  names 
of  all  violators  of  it;  and  all  dealings  with  such  "  enemies 
of  American  liberty  "  were  to  be  immediately  broken  off. 

Patrick  Henry,  who  had  electrified  the  Congress  by  his 
eloquence,  was  selected  by  the  committee,  to  which  that 
business  was  intrusted,  to  draft  the  petition  to  the  king. 
But  this  draft,  when  received,  did  not  give  satisfaction. 
Dickinson,  lately  added  to  the  Pennsylvania  delegation,  was 
added  also  to  the  committee,  and  a  new  draft  was  prepared 
by  him,  which  the  Congress  approved. 

While  the  Continental  Congress  was  still  in  session,  mat- 
ters in  Massachusetts  were  fast  verging  to  a  crisis.  Gage 
had  summoned  a  House  of  Representatives  to  meet  him  at 
Salem,  to  proceed  to  business  under  the  late  act  of  Parlia- 
ment ;  but  the  spirit  evinced  in  the  resolutions  of  the  town 
meetings  and  county  conventions  induced  him  to  issue  a 
proclamation  countermanding  the  Assembly.  It  was  denied, 
however,  that  the  Governor  could  prorogue  the  Court  till  it 
had  first  met;  and,  notwithstanding  the  countermand,  most 
of  the  members  elect  assembled  at  Salem  on  the  day  appoint- 
ed. As  nobody  appeared  to  open  the  session  and  administer 
the  oaths,  they  adopted  the  advice  already  given  by  the  Essex 
county  Convention,  resolved  themselves  into  a  Provincial  Con- 
gress, adjourned  to  Concord,  and  there  organized  by  choosing 
John  Hancock  as  president,  and  for  secretary  Benjamin  Lin- 
coln, a  farmer  of  Hingham,  afterward  a  major-general  in  the 
revolutionary  army.  A  large  committee,  appointed  to  consider 
the  state  of  the  province,  reported  an  address  to  Gage,  which 
the  Congress  adopted;  after  which  they  adjourned  to  Cam- 
bridge, whence  a  committee  was  sent  to  present  the  address 


216  HISTORICAL  AND 

to  tlie  governor.  The  Congress,  in  this  address,  protested 
their  attachment  to  Great  Britain,  their  loyalty  to  the  king, 
and  their  love  of  peace  and  order,  but  complained  of  the  recent 
acts  of  Paliament,  the  employment  of  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment to  harass  and  enslave  them,  the  military  force  concen- 
trated in  Boston,  and  the  fortifications  erecting  there.  The 
people,  they  declared,  would  never  be  satisfied  till  these  mili- 
tary preparations  were  discontinued  and  those  fortifications 
demolished. 

Gage  replied  that  his  military  preparations  were  only  in 
self-defense,  and  justified  by  threats  everywhere  uttered. 
He  disavowed,  on  behalf  of  Great  Britain,  any  design  to 
harass  or  enslave ;  expressed  a  wish  for  harmony  ;  begged 
them  to  consider,  while  complaining  of  violations  of  their 
charter,  whether  their  present  assembly  was  not  a  violation 
of  it ;  and  required  them,  in  conclusion,  to  desist  from  their 
illegal  proceedings. 

So  far  from  desisting,  the  Congress  appointed  a  Committee 
of  Safety,  at  the  head  of  which  was  John  Hancock,  with  pow- 
er to  call  out  the  militia.  A  committee  was  also  raised  tc 
take  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  province,  and  another 
to  procure  military  stores  and  provisions,  towards  which  the 
sum  of  £20,000,  $66,666,  was  appropriated.  Constables  and 
other  collectors  of  taxes  were  ordered  to  pay  no  more  money 
to  the  late  Treasurer  of  the  province,  but  to  hand  over  all 
future  collections  to  a  new  Treasurer  appointed  by  the  Con- 
gress. Preble,  of  Falmouth,  an  old  militia  officer,  Artemus 
Ward,  a  colleague  of  Haggles  on  the  bench  of  the  Worcester 
Common  Pleas,  and  Pomeroy,  who  led  a  regiment  at  the 
battle  of  Lake  George,  were  commissioned  as  generals.  The 
militia  were  called  upon  to  choose  company  and  regimental 
officers  of  their  own,  and  to  perfect  themselves  in  military 
discipline.  The  Congress  disavowed  any  intention  to  attack 
the  British  troops ;  but,  as  their  Capital  was  occupied  by  a 
large  force,  as  the  military  stores  of  the  province  had  been 
seized,  and  as  there  was  too  much  reason  to  apprehend  a  still 
more  direct  invasion  of  their  rights,  they  declared  these 
measures  necessary  for  defense.  Gage  issued  a  proclamation 
denouncing  their  proceedings,  to  which  no  attention  was  paid, 
while  the  recommendations  of  the  Provincial  Congress  had 
all  the  force  of  law.  Gage  had  no  support  except  in  his 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  217 

troops  and  a  few  trembling  officials,  while  the  zealous  co- 
operation of  an  intelligent,  firm,  energetic,  and  overwhelm- 
ing majority  of  the  people  gave  to  the  Congress  all  the 
strength  of  an  established  government. 

While  the  colonies  were  thus  busy  in  defense  of  their  rights, 
the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  had  been  again 
visited  by  Indian  war.  Surveyors,  sent  under  the  royal 
authority,  at  the  request  of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  to  ex- 
tend the  western  limits  of  that  province,  had  pushed  their 
explorations  to  a  great  distance  westward.  Some  of  these 
surveyors  had  descended  the  Ohio  as  far  as  the  Falls,  and  had 
traced  up  the  Kentucky  a  considerable  distance  from  its 
mouth.  Collisions  took  place  between  these  explorers  and 
the  Indians  on  the  Ohio.  Under  the  impulse  of  a  false  rumor 
of  previous  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  nine  per- 
sons, the  family  of  Logan,  a  chief  distinguished  for  friendship 
to  the  whites,  were  murdered  in  cold  blood.  This  and  other 
similar  attrocities  excited  the  Indians  to  revenge.  The  juris- 
diction "of  the  region  about  Pittsburgh  was  still  disputed 
between  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  St.  Clair  and  others, 
who  recognized  the  authority  of  Pennsylvania,  endeavored 
to  conciliate  matters,  and  an  appeal  was  made  to  Sir  William 
Johnson,  by  the  Pennsylvania  authorities,  to  induce  the  Six 
Nations  to  act  as  mediators.  Just  at  this  time  Sir  William 
died,  but  the  business  was  undertaken  by  his  son-in-law,  Guy 
Johnson,  soon  appointed  his  successor  as  superintendent  of  the 
Northern  Indians.  While  these  efforts  for  peace  were  made 
by  Pennsylvania,  Conolly  and  others  in  the  Virginia  interest 
were  bent  on  war,  in  which  they  were  fully  supported  by 
Governor  Dunmore.  Daniel  Boone  was  sent  to  guide  back 
by  land  the  surveyors  employed  on  the  Lower  Ohio ;  after 
which  he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  frontier  fort.  Volun- 
teers to  march  against  the  Indians  were  easily  obtained. 
Major  M'Donald,  with  four  hundred  men,  having  assembled 
at  Fish  Creek,  on  the  Ohio,  just  below  Wheeling,  marched 
against  and  destroyed  the  Shawanese  village  on  the  Mus- 
kingum,  some  fifteen  miles  below  the  present  Coshocton  ;  but 
the  Indians  made  their  escape.  Dunmore  himself,  with 
fifteen  hundred  men,  presently  moved  against  the  Indian 
villages  on  the  Scioto,  while  Colonel  Lewis,  with  another  divi- 
sion of  twelve  hundred  men,  descended  the  Kanawha.  Near 
19 


218  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  mouth  of  that  river,  Lewis  found  the  Indians  in  force, 
under  Logan,  Cornstalk,  and  other  chiefs.  A  very  hard- 
fought  battle  ensued  ;  the  Virginians  finally  carried  the  day, 
but  not  without  the  loss  of  sixty  or  seventy  killed,  and  a  large 
number  wounded.  Shelby,  afterwards  first  governor  of  Ken- 
tucky, led  a  company  in  this  battle. 

Alarmed  at  Dunmore's  approach  toward  their  villages,  the 
Indians  had  already  entered  into  negotiations,  and  Dunrnore 
sent  word  to  Lewis  to  put  a  stop  to  hostilities — orders  which 
the  backwoodsmen  were  somewhat  reluctant  to  obey.  Logan 
was  not  present  at  the  treaty,  but  he  sent  the  following 
speech :  "I  appeal  to  any  white  man  to  say  if  ever  he  enter- 
ed Logan's  cabin  hungry,  and  he  gave  him  not  meat ;  if  ever 
he  came  cold  and  naked,  and  he  clothed  him  not.  During 
the  last'  long  and  bloody  war,  Logan  remained  idle  in  his 
cabin,  an  advocate,  for  peace.  Such  was  my  love  for  the 
whites,  that  my  countrymen  pointed  as  they  passed,  and  said, 
'  Logan  is  the  friend  of  white  men !'  I  had  even  thought  to 
have  lived  with  you,  but  for  the  injuries  of  one  man.  Colo- 
nel Cresap,  the  last  spring,  in  cold  blood,  and  unprovoked, 
murdered  all  the  relatives  of  Logan,  not  even  sparing  women 
and  children.  There  runs  not  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  the  veins 
of  any  living  creature.  This  called  on  me  for  revenge  !  I 
have  sought  ifc ;  I  have  killed  many ;  I  have  fully  glutted 
my  vengeance !  For  my  people,  I  rejoice  at  the  beams  of 
peace ;  but  do  not  harbor  a  thought  that  mine  is  the  joy  of 
fear.  Logan  never  felt  fear.  He  will  not  turn  on  his  heel 
to  save  his  life  !  Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Logan  ?  Not 
one  !" 

At  Fort  Gower,  at  the  junction  of  the  Hocking  with  the 
Ohio,  the  officers  of  Dunmore's  army,  on  their  homeward 
march,  held  a  meeting,  at  which  they  complimented  the 

fovernor,  and  resolved  to  bear  faithful   allegiance  to  the 
ing,  but  also  to  maintain  the  just  rights  of  America,  by 
every  means  in  their  power. 

At  the  same  time  with  these  difficulties  on  the  Virginia 
frontier,  some  collisions  took  place  in  Georgia,  between  the 
settlers  on  the  recently  ceded  lands,  and  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees,  who  seemed  disposed  to  support  each  other  in 
case  of  hostilities.  But,  instead  of  having  recourse  to  arms, 
Governor  Wright  •proclaimed  a  suspension  of  trade.  The 


KEVOLUTTONARY  INCIDENTS.  219 

Indians,  by  this  means,  were  soon  brougnt  to  terms,  and  a 
new  treaty  of  peace  was  arranged. 

Two  successive  cargoes  of  tea  which  arrived  at  Portsmouth, 
had  been  reshipped.  A  quantity  brought  to  Annapolis  was 
burned,  and  the  ship  with  it ;  the  owner  himself,  to  soothe 
the  excitement,  setting  fire  to  it  with  his  own  hand.  The 
Assembly  of  Connecticut  gave  orders  to  the  towns  to  lay  in 
a  double  supply  of  ammunition.  They 'directed  the  cannon 
at  New  London  to  be  mounted,  and  the  militia  to  be  fre- 
quently trained.  The  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress were  approved,  and  the  same  delegates  were  re-appointed. 

Measures,  meanwhile,  were  everywhere  on  foot,  by  the 
appointment  of  committees  of  inspection,  to  enforce  the 
American  Association.  Philadelphia  set  the  example.  New 
York  followed,  by  appointing  a  city  committee  of  sixty,  with 
full  powers  for  that  purpose.  At  a  third  session  of  the 
Massachusetts  Congress,  held  after  a  short  adjournment,  the 
delegates  to  the  late  Continental  Congress  made  a  report  of 
the  doings  of  that  body,  all  of  which  were  fully  approved. 
It  was  voted  to  enroll  twelve  thousand  "  minute  men  " — vol- 
unteers, that  is,  from  among  the  militia,  pledged  to  be  ready 
for  service  at  a  minute's  notice  ;  and  negotiations  were 
ordered  with  the  other  New  England  colonies,  to  make  up 
this  force  to  twenty  thousand.  John  Thomas,  of  Plymouth 
county,  who  had  led  a  regiment  in  the  late  war,  and  William 
Heath,  a  Roxbury  farmer,  were  commissioned  as  generals. 
Domestic  manufactures  were  strongly  urged  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people.  The  same  delegates  as  before  were 
appointed  to  the  Continental  Congress,  to  be  held  in  the 
Spring.  Directions  were  also  issued  for  the  election  of  a 
new  Provincial  Congress,  to  meet  early  in  the  year,  at  which 
time,  the  members  of  the  last  elected  Council  were  requested 
to  be  present.  The  Congress  then  adjourned,  to  attend  the 
annual  thanksgiving,  of  which  they  had  assumed  the  appoint- 
ment. Their  authority  was  zealously  seconded  in  every  town, 
by  a  Committee  of  Safety,  vested  with  general  executive 
powers,  a  Committee  of  Correspondence,  and  a  Committee 
of  Inspection,  appointed  to  look  after  the  observance  of  the 
American  Association. 

In  the  absence  of  the  ships-of-war,  usually  stationed 
in  Narraganset  Bay,  forty-four  pieces  of  cannon  were 


220  HISTORICAL  AND 

taken  from  the  batteries  at  Newport,  and  conveyed  to  Provi 
deuce.  When  called  upon  by  the  British  naval  commander 
for  an  explanation,  Governor  Wanton  bluntly  avowed  that 
these  cannon  had  been  taken  away  to  prevent  their  falling 
into  his  hands,  and  were  intended  for  use  against  any  power 
that  might  offer  to  molest  the  colony.  This  movement  in 
Ehode  Island,  was  induced  by  a  royal  proclamation  prohibit- 
ing the  export  of  military  stores  to  America.  It  was  soon 
followed  up  in  New  Hampshire.  Instigated  by  Paul  Revere, 
from  Boston,  and  led  by  John  Sullivan,  a  leading  lawyer, 
late  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  by  John 
Langdon,  a  principal  merchant  of  Portsmouth,  a  large  party 
entered  the  fort  at  that  place,  which  was  only  guarded  by 
four  or  five  men,  and  carried  off  a  hundred  barrels  of  pow- 
der, some  cannon  and  small  arms. 

The  doings  of  the  Continental  Congress  were  approved  by 
a  Convention  in  Maryland,  and  the  several  counties  took 
measures  for  enforcing  the  Association.  The  Convention  of 
Maryland  assumed,  in  fact,  the  powers  of  government ;  they 
ordered  the  militia  to  be  enrolled,  .and  voted  <£10,000  to  pur- 
chase arms.  The  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  also  approved 
the  doings-  of  Congress,  and  appointed  delegates  to  the  new 
one.  In  South  Carolina,  delegates  to  the  new  Congress,  and 
Committees  of  Inspection  to  enforce  the  Association,  were 
appointed  by  a  Provincial  Convention,  of  which  Charles 
Pinckney  was  president,  called  together  by  the  committee  of 
ninety-nine.  (1775.) 

A  general  election  had  recently  taken  place  in  Great 
Britain,  but  the  result  boded  no  good  to  the  colonies.  Par- 
ties in  the  new  House  of  Commons  stood  very  much  as  before. 
Lord  North,  and  his  colleagues  in  the  ministry,  had  an  over- 
whelming majority.  Ministers  not  only  were  sure  of  sup- 
port from  Parliament,  and  from  the  personal  feelings  of  the 
king,  strongly  bent  upon  bringing  the  colonies  to  uncondi- 
tional submission :  they  were  also  sustained  by  the  general 
sentiment  of  the  British  people,  by  whom  the  stigma  of 
rebellion  was  already  affixed  to  the  conduct  of  the  colonists. 

Yet  there  was  not  wanting,  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament, 
a  very  respectable  minority,  opposed  to  subduing  the  colonists 
by  force,  and  anxious  to  promote  an  amicable  adjustment. 
The  merchants  trading  to  America,  were  very  averse 


KEVOLUTrONARY   INCIDENTS.  221 

that  any  occasion  should  be  given  to  their  debtors  for  post- 
poning or  refusing  the  payment  of  their  debts,  or  that  actual 
war  should  put  a  final  stop  to  a  profitable  trade,  already  so 
seriously  threatened  by  the  American  Association,  compared 
with  which,  all  former  non-importation  agreements  had  been 
limited  and  inefficient.  The  English  Dissenters  were  inclined 
by  religious  sympathies  to  favor  the  colonists.  Such  frag- 
ments of  the  old  Whig  party  as  had  not  coalesced  with 
the  "king's  friends,7'  headed  by  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham 
and  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  supported  by  the  colonial  experi- 
ence of  Pownall  and  Johnstone,  and  sustained  by  the  elo- 
quence of  Burke,  Barre,  Dunning,  and  the  youthful  Fox, 
few,  but  able,  maintained  with  zeal  those  principles  of  lib- 
erty, which  had  descended,  to  them  from  the  times  of  the 
English  civil  wars,  and  which  the  threatened  civil  war  in 
America  seemed  now  again  to  arouse  to  new  life. 

After  a  long  absence,  Chatham  re-appeared  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  proposed  an  address  to  the  king,  advising  the 
recall  of  the  troops  from  Boston ;  but  this  motion,  though 
supported  by  Lord  Camden,  after  a  warm  debate,  was  rejected 
by  a  very  decisive  majority.  In  the  Commons,  the  papers 
relating  to  America  were  referred  to  a  committee  of  the 
whole.  The  petitions  for  conciliation,  which  flowed  in  from 
all  the  great  trading  and  manufacturing  towns  of  the  king- 
dom, ought  properly  to  have  gone  to  the  same  committee ; 
but  the  ministers  procured  their  reference  to  another  com- 
mittee for  a  subsequent  day,  which  the  opposition  derided  as 
a  "committee  of  oblivion."  Among  the  papers  laid  before 
Parliament,  was  the  petition  from  the  Continental  Congress 
to  the  king.  Three  of  the  colonial  agents,  Franklin,  Bol- 
lan,  and  Arthur  Lee,  to  whose  care  this  petition  had  been 
intrusted,  asked  to  be  heard  upon  it  by  counsel,  at  the  bar  of 
the  House.  But  their  request  was  refused,  on  the  ground 
that  the  Congress  was  an  illegal  assembly,  and  the  alleged 
grievances  only  pretended. 

Still  persevering  in  his  schemes  for  conciliation,  Chatham 
brought  forward,  in  the  Lords,  a  bill  for  settling  the  troubles 
in  America.  It  required  a  full  acknowledgement  on  the 
part  of  the  colonists,  of  the  supremacy  and  superintending 
power  of  Parliament,  but  provided  that  no  tax  should  ever 
be  levied,  except  by  colonial  Assemblies.  It  contained,  also, 
19* 


222  HISTORICAL  AND 

a  provision  for  a  Congress  of  the  colonies  to  make  the  re- 
quired acknowledgement,  and  to  vote,  at  the  same  time,  a 
free  grant  to  the  king  of  a  certain  perpetual  revenue,  to  be 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  Parliament.  Chatham  exerted  him- 
self, on  this  occasion,  with  renewed  and  remarkable  vigor; 
but,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  after  a  warm  and  very  pointed 
debate,  his  bill  was  refused  the  courtesy  of  lying  on  the 
table,  and,  contrary  to  the  usual  course,  was  rejected  by  a 
vote  of  two  to  one,  at  the  first  reading. 

Agreeably  to  the  scheme  foreshadowed  in  his  speech  on  the 
address,  Lord  North,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  brought  in 
a  bill  for  cutting  off  the  trade  of  New  England  elsewhere 
than  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  British  West  Indies — 
intended  as  an  offset  to  the  American  Association — and 
suspending  the  prosecution  from  those  colonies  of  the  New- 
foundland fishery,  a  principal  branch  at  that  time  of  their 
trade  and  industry.  An  address  to  the  throne,  proposed  by 
the  ministers,  and  carried  after  great  debates,  declared  that 
a  rebellion  already  existed  in  Massachusetts,  countenanced 
and  fomented  by  unlawful  combinations  in  other  colonies. 
Effectual  measures  were  recommended  for  suppressing  this 
rebellion ;  and  the  support  of  Parliament  was  pledged  to  the 
king,  in  the  maintenance  of  the  just  authority  of  the  crown 
and  the  nation. 

Burke,  as  representative  of  the  Rockingham  section  of  the 
opposition,  brought  forward  a  series  of  resolutions  proposing 
the  abandonment  of  all  attempts  at  parliamentary  taxation, 
and  a  return  to  the  old  method  of  raising  American  supplies 
by  the  free  grant  of  the  colonial  Assemblies.  He  supported 
these  resolutions  in  an  elaborate  speech ;  but  his  motion  was 
voted  down,  as  was  a  similar  one,  introduced  a  few  days  after, 
by  David  Hartley,  on  behalf  of  the  Chatham  section  of  the 
opposition. 

We  give  here  the  most  important  portions  of  this  famous 
speech  of  Burke,  which,  from  the  direct  light  it  sheds  upon 
questions  at  issue,  between  Sam  and  the  old  country,  is  of 
great  importance. 

The  Speech  of  Edmund  Burke,  Esq.,  on  moving  his  resolu- 
tions for  conciliation  with  the  colonies,  March  22,  1775. 

"  I  have  in  my  hand  two  accounts  ;  one  a  comparative  state- 
ment of  the  export  trade  of  England  to  its  colonies,  as  it  stood 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  223 

in  the  year  1704,  and  as  it  stood  in  the  year  1772.  The  other, 
a  statement  of  the  export  trade  of  this  country  to  its  colonies 
alone,  as  it  stood  in  1772,  compared  with  the  whole  trade 
of  England  to  all  parts  of  the  world  (the  colonies  included,) 
in  the  year  1704.  They  are  from  good  vouchers:  the  latter 
period,  from  the  accounts  on  your  tahle ;  the  earlier,  from  an 
original  manuscript  of  Davenant,  who  first  established  the 
inspector  general's  office,  which  has  been,  ever  since  his  time, 
so  abundant  a  source  of  Parliamentary  information. 

The  export  trade  to  the  colonies  consists  of  three  great 
branches.  The  African,  which,  terminating  almost  wholly  in 
the  colonies,  must  be  put  to  the  account  of  their  commerce, 
the  West  Indies  and  the  North  American.  All  these  are  so 
interwoven,  that  the  attempt  to  separate  them  would  tear  to 
pieces  the  contexture  of  the  whole  ;  and,  if  not  entirely  des- 
troy, would  very  much  depreciate  the  value  of  all  the  parts. 
I  therefore  consider  these  three  denominations  to  be,  what  in 
effect  they  are,  one  trade. 

The  trade  to  the  colonies,  taken  on  the  export  side,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  that  is,  in  the  year  1704,  stood 

thus : 

Exports  to  North  America  and  the  West  Indies,  £483,265 
To  Africa 86,665 

£569,930 

In  the  year  1772,  which  I  take  as  a  middle  year  between 
the  highest  and  and  the  lowest  of  those  lately  laid  on  your 
table,  the  accounts  were  as  follows.: 

To  North  America  and  the  West  Indies £4,791,734 

To  Africa 866,398 

To  which,  if  you  add  the  export  trade  to  and 
from  Scotland,  which  had,  in  1704,  no 
existence 364,000 


£6,022,132 

From  five  hundred  and  odd  thousands,  it  has  grown  to  six 
million ;  it  has  increased  no  less  than  twelve-fold.  This  is 
the  state  of  the  colony  trade  as  compared  with  itself  at  these 
two  periods,  within  this  century  ;  and  this  is  matter  for  medi- 
tation. But  this  is  not  all.  Examine  my  second  account. 
See  how  the  export  trade  to  the  colonies  alone,  in  1772, 
stood  in  the  other  point  of  view,  that  is,  as  compared  with 
the  whole  trade  of  England,  in  1704: — The  whole  export 


224  HISTORICAL  AND 

trade  of  England,  including  that  to  the  colonies,  in  1704, 
vas  £6,509,000;  the  exports  to  the  colonies  alone,  in  1772, 
amounted  to  £6,024,000. 

Thus  the  trade  with  America  alone  is  now  within  less  than 
£500,000  of  being  equal  to  what  this  great  commercial 
nation,  England,  carried  on  at  the  beginning  of  this  century 
with  the  whole  world !  If  I  had  taken  the  largest  year  of 
those  on  your  table,  it  would  rather  have  exceeded.  But  it 
will  be  said,  is  not  this  American  trade  an  unnatural  protu- 
berance, that  has  drawn  the  juices  from  the  rest  of  the  body  ? 
The  reverse  ;  it  is  the  very  food  that  has  nourished  every 
other  part  into  its  present  magnitude.  Our  general  trade 
has  been  greatly  augmented ;  and  augmented  more  or  less 
in  almost  every  part  to  which  it  ever  extended;  but  with 
this  material  difference,  that  of  the  six  millions,  which,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  constituted  the  whole  mass  of  our 
export  commerce,  the  colony  trade  was  but  one-twelfth  part ; 
it  is  now  (as  a  part  of  seventeen  million)  considerably  more 
than  a  third  of  the  whole. 

This  is  the  relative  proportion  of  the  importance  of  the 
colonies  at  these  two  periods ;  and  all  reason  concerning  our 
mode  of  treating  them,  must  have  this  proportion  as  its  basis, 
or  it  is  a  reasoning,  weak,  rotten,  and  sophistical. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  can  not  prevail  upon  myself  to  hurry  over 
this  great  consideration.  It  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  We 
stand  where  we  have  an  immense  view  of  what  is,  and  what 
is  past.  Clouds  indeed,  and  darkness  rest  upon  the  future. 
Let  us,  however,  before  we  descend  from  this  noble  eminence, 
reflect  that  this  growth  of  our  national  prosperity,  has  hap- 
pened within  the  short  peribd  of  the  life  of  man — it  has 
happened  within  sixty-eight  years.  There  are  those  alive, 
whose  memory  might  touch  the  two  extremities !  For  instance, 
my  Lord  Bathurst,  might  remember  all  the  stages  of  the  pro- 
gress. He  was,  in  1704,  of  age  at  least  be  made  to  compre- 
hend such  things ;  he  was  then  old  enough,  acta  parentum 
jam  legere,  et  quce  sit  proterit  cognoscere  virtus.  Suppose,  sir, 
that  the  angel  of  this  auspicious  youth,  foreseeing  the  many 
virtues,  which  made  him  one  of  the  most  amiable,  as  he  is 
one  of  the  most  fortunate  men  of  his  age,  had  opened  to  him 
in  vision  that  when,  in  the  fourth  generation,  the  third  prince 
of  the  house  of  Brunswick  had  sat  twelve  years  on  the  throne 


EE  VOLUTION  ART  INCIDENTS.  225 

of  that  nation  which  (by  the  happy  issue  of  moderate  and 
healing  councils)  was  to  be  made  Great  Britain,  he  should  see 
his  son,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  turn  back  the  current 
of  hereditary  dignity  to  its  fountain,  and  raise  him  to  a 
higher  rank  of  peerage,  while  we  enriched  the  family  with  a 
new  one  ;  if,  amid  these  bright  and  happy  scenes  of  domestic 
honor  and  prosperity,  that  angel  should  have  drawn  up  the 
curtain,  and  unfolded  the  rising  glories  of  his  country,  and 
while  he  was  gazing  with  admiration  on  the  then  commercial 
grandeur  of  England,  the  genius  should  point  out  to  him  a 
little  speck,  scarce  visible  in  the  mass  of  the  national  interest, 
a  small  seminal  principle,  rather  than  a  formed  body,  and 
should  tell  him — "  Young  man,  there  is  America,  which  at 
this  day  serves  for  little  more  than  to  amuse  you  with  stories 
of  savage  men,  and  uncouth  manners  ;  yet  shall,  before  you 
taste  death,  show  itself  equal  to  the  whole  of  that  commerce 
which  now  attracts  tfie  envy  of  the  world.  Whatever  England 
has  been  growing  to  by  a  progressive  increase  of  improvements, 
brought  in  by  variety  of  people,  by  successsion  of  civilizing 
conquests  and  civilizing  settlements,  in  a  series  of  seventeen 
hundred  years,  you  shall  see  as  much  added  to  her  by  America, 
in  the  course  of  a  single  life."  If  this  state  of  his  country  had 
been  foretold  to  him,  would  it  not  require  all  the  sanguine  cre- 
dulity of  youth,  and  all  the  fervid  glow  of  enthusiasm,  to  make 
him  believe  it?  Fortunate  man,  he  has  lived  to  see  it !  For- 
tunate indeed,  if  he  lives  to  see  nothing  that  shall  vary  the 
prospect,  and  cloud  the  setting  of  his  day ! 

This  noble  effort  at  conciliation,  seems,  however,  to  have 
fallen  upon  deaf  ears. 

The  new  provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts,  consisting 
of  upward  of  three  hundred  members,  having  met  at  Cain- 
bridge,  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  merchant  of  Marblehead,  for  two 
or  three  years  past  prominent  in  the  General  Court,  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  of  Supplies.  Active 
measures  were  taken  for  arming  and  drilling  the  militia,  and 
especially  for  procuring  powder ;  and  magazines  of  provisions 
and  military  stores  began  to  be  laid  up  at  Concord,  Worces- 
ter, and  other  places.  An  appeal  to  the  people  was  put  forth, 
and  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  appointed  ;  after  which  the 
Congress  took  a  short  adjournment. 


226  HISTORICAL  AND 

Aware  of  what  was  going  on,  Gage  sent  a  detachment  to 
Salem,  whence  the  British  troops  had  been  withdrawn  for 
concentration  at  Boston,  to  seize  some  cannon  said  to  be 
deposited  there.  A  hundred  and  fifty  regulars,  sent  from 
Boston  by  water,  landed  at  Salem  on  this  business.  Not 
finding  the  cannon  there,  they  marched  in  search  of  them 
toward  the  adjoining  town  of  Danvers.  At  a  bridge  between 
the  towns  they  encountered  a  party  of  militia,  under  Colonel 
Pickering,  who  claimed  the  bridge  as  private  property,  and 
proposed  to  dispute  the  passage.  It  was  Sunday  ;  one  of  the 
Salem  ministers  interfered,  and,  taking  advantage  of  rever- 
ence for  the  day,  with  much  difficulty  prevented  a  collision. 
The  soldiers  were  allowed  to  pass  the  bridge,  but  soon 
returned  without  finding  the  cannon.  About  the  same  time, 
two  officers  were  sent  in  disguise  to  examine  the  country  and 
the  roads  towards  Worcester. 

The  Connecticut  Assembly,  in  a  special  session,  though 
they  declined  to  take  immediate  steps  for  enlisting  troops, 
yet  commissioned  David  Wooster  as  major-general,  and 
Joseph  Spencer  and  Israel  Putnam  as  brigadiers.  The 
Massachusetts  Congress  shortly  after  voted  to  raise  an  army 
for  the  defense  of  the  province.  They  sent  committees  to 
the  other  New  England  colonies  to  solicit  their  aid  and  con- 
currence, and  meanwhile  took  another  recess. 

Gage's  force  at  this  time  amounted  to  twenty-eight  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  As  the  spring  opened,  he  determined  by  active 
movements  to  nip  these  rebellious  preparations  in  the  bud. 
Two  officers,  sent  from  Boston  to  make  a  reconnoissance, 
reported  that  some  cannon  and  a  quantity  of  provisions  and 
military  stores  had  been  collected  at  Concord,  an  interior 
town,  about  twenty  miles  from  Boston.  To  destroy  these 
stores,  eight  hundred  British  troops,  light  infantry  and  gren- 
adiers, left  Boston,  under  Colonel  Smith,  with  great  secresy, 
shortly  after  midnight,  and  reached  Lexington,  within  six 
miles  of  Concord,  before  sunrise.  But  the  alarm  had  been 
given — it  was  supposed  their  object  might  be  to  arrest  Han- 
cock and  Samuel  Adams,  who  were  lodging  at  Lexington — 
and  the  minute  men  of  the  neighborhood,  about  a  hundred  in 
number,  had  assembled  on  the  green  in  front  of  the  meet- 
ing-house. The  head  of  the  British  column  came  suddenly 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  227 

upon  w  them,  led  by  two  or  three  officers,  who  called  upon 
the  minute  men  to  throw  down  their  arms  and  disperse. 
When  these  orders  were  not  instantly  obeyed,  a  volley  was 
fired,  by  which  eight  of  the  minute  men  were  killed,  and 
several  wounded.  The  British  alleged,  however,  that  the 
minute  men  fired  first.  The  survivors  scattered  at  once,  and 
the  regulars  marched  on  to  Concord.  As  they  approached 
that  village,  another  body  of  minute  men  was  seen  assembled 
on  a  hill  in  front  of  the  meeting-house ;  but,  as  the  regulars 
advanced,  they  retired  across  a  bridge  to  another  hill  back  of 
the  town.  The  bridge  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  regu- 
lars, a  guard  of  three  companies  was  stationed  at  it,  and 
three  other  companies  were  sent  across  to  destroy  some  stores 
at  a  distance.  The  main  body  halted  near  the  meeting- 
house, and  commenced  destroying  the  stores  found  there. 
The  minute  men  on  the  hill,  increased  by  constant  accessions, 
presently  advanced  toward  the  bridge.  The  guard  of  regu- 
lars having  retired  across  it,  began  to  take  up  the  planks, 
and,  as  the  minute  men  continued  to  approach,  they  fired. 
The  fire  was  returned,  and  several*  regulars  were  killed ;  yet 
such  was  the  hesitation  at  this  first  shedding  of  blood,  that 
the  three  British  companies  beyond  the  bridge  were  suffered 
to  re-cross  without  molestation.  They' fell  back  to  the  village, 
and  the  whole  detachment  commenced  a  speedy  retreat.  It 
was  time.  The  alarm  had  spread ;  the  country  was  up.  The 
minute  men,  hurrying  in  from  every  side,  threatened  the 
rear,  the  flanks,  the  front  of  the  retreating  column,  and  from 
behind  trees,  fences  and  stone  walls,  poured  in  an  irregular 
but  galling  and  fatal  fire.  The  British  suffered  very  severely ; 
the  commanding  officer  was  wounded ;  the  retreat  was  fast 
turning  into  a  rout ;  the  whole  party  would  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  provincials  but  for  seasonable  aid  found  at 
Lexington,  whither  Gage,  with  wise  caution,  had  dispatched 
Lord  Percy,  with  a  supporting  column  of  nine  hundred  men 
and  two  pieces  of  cannon.  The  artillery  kept  the  minute 
men  at  bay ;  Percy's  men  received  their  exhausted  compan- 
ions within  a  hollow  square,  and  the  retreat,  after  a  short 
halt,  was  again  re-commenced.  By  throwing  out  strong 
flanking  parties,  Percy  covered  his  main  body,  and  by  sun- 
set the  regulars  reached  Charlestown,  worn  out  with  fatigue, 
and  with  a  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  of  near  three  hundred 


228  HISTORICAL  AND 

men.  The  provincial  loss  was  about  eighty-five.  The  ex- 
hausted regulars  encamped  on  Bunker  Hill,  under  cover  of 
the  ships  of  war  in  the  river.  The  next  day  they  crossed 
the  ferry  to  Boston. 

From  all  parts  of  New  England  volunteers  marched  at 
once,  and  within  a  day  or  two  after  the  fight,  Boston  was 
beleaguered  by  a  considerable  but  irregular  army.  The 
news,  forwarded  by  express,  spread  fast  through  the  colonies. 
Yet,  with  the  hottest  haste  which  could  then  be  made,  it 
took  twenty  days  to  reach  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina. 

The  re-assembled  Congress  of  Massachusetts  voted  to  raise 
thirteen  thousand  six  hundred  men,  arranged  presently  into 
twenty-seven  regiments.  The  other  New  England  colonies 
were  called  upon  to  make  up  the  army  to  thirty  thousand 
men.  Ward  was  appointed  captain  general,  Thomas  lieu- 
tenant general.  A  regiment  of  artillery  was  authorized,  the 
command  being  given  to  Gridley,  appointed  also  chief  engi- 
neer. A  captain's  commission  was  promised  to  any  person 
who  would  enlist  fifty-nine  men ;  any  person  who  could 
procure  the  enlistment  of"  ten  companies  was  to  be  made  a 
colonel.  This  method  facilitated  raising  the  men,  but  brought 
many  incompetent  officers  into  the  service. 

The  issue  of  paper  money,  one  of  the  greatest  miseries  of 
war,  disused  in  Massachusetts  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, was  now  revived.  Provincial  notes  were  issued  to  the 
amount  of  £100,000,  $333,333,  in  sums  small  enough  to 
circulate  as  a  currency. 

Depositions  to  show  that  the  regulars  had  fired  first  at 
Lexington,  without  provocation,  were  dispatched  to  England 
by  a  special  packet,  with  a  short  but  energetic  address  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,  expressing  the  resolution  "  to 
die  or  be  free."  Franklin,  to  whom  this  address  and  the 
depositions  were  inclosed,  was  requested  to  have  them  printed 
and  distributed,  and  to  communicate  them  especially  to  the 
city  of  London.  But  Franklin  had  sailed  for  America,  leaving 
the  Massachusetts  agency  in  the  hands  of  Arthur  Lee. 

The  appeal  to  the  other  New  England  colonies  was  not 
made  in  vain.  The  Rhode  Island  Assembly  voted  an  army 
of  observation  of  fifteen  hundred  men — a  measure  opposed, 
however,  by  Governor  Wanton  and  two  or  three  of  the  assis- 
tants, who  entered  a  protest  against  it  as  dangerous  to  their 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  229 

charter  privileges,  likely  to  involve  the  colony  in  a  war,  and 
contrary  to  their  oath  of  allegiance.  Stephen  Hopkins  and 
Samuel  Ward,  former  governors  and  political  rivals,  were 
re-appointed  delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress.  Wanton 
was  re-chosen  governor  at  the  election  shortly  after;  but,  as 
ho.  did  not  appear  to  take  the  oaths,  the  Assembly  directed 
that  the  duties  of  the  office  should  be  performed  by  Deputy 
Governor  Cooke,  who  continued  for  the  next  three  years  at 
the  head  of  affairs.  A  body  of  Rhode  Island  volunteers  had 
appeared  before  Boston,  led  by  Nathaniel  Greene,  a  young 
iron-master,  educated  a  Quaker,  but  now  disowned  by  that 
communion  on  account  of  his  military  propensities.  He  was 
appointed  by  the  Assembly  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  observation,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier. 

The  Connecticut  Assembly  voted  to  raise  six  regiments  of 
a  thousand  men  each,  four  of  them  to  serve  with  the  army 
before  Boston.  Wooster,  Spencer,  and  Putnam,  already  com- 
missioned as  generals,  were  each  to  have  a  regiment ;  the 
other  three  were  to  be  commanded  by  Hinman,  Waterbury, 
and  Parsons.  Putnam  was  already  in  the  camp  before  Bos- 
ton. Old  man  of  sixty,  as  he  was,  on  hearing  the  news  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington,  he  had  left  his  plow  in  the  furrow 
to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Connecticut  volunteers. 

A  special  convention  of  delegates  from  the  nearest  towns, 
called  together  by  the  New  Hampshire  Committee  of  Safety, 
on  hearing  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  did  not 
think  it  best  to  anticipate  the  action  of  a  Provincial  Con- 
gress, already  summoned  for  the  seventeenth  of  May,  by 
taking  steps  for  organizing  an  army ;  but  the  several  towns 
were  requested  to  forward  supplies  to  the  volunteers  who  had 
followed  Stark  to  Boston.  Meanwhile,  the  Massachusetts 
Congress  directed  enlistments  among  the  New  Hampshire 
soldiers  in  camp.  As  the  new  regiments  began  to  be  formed, 
the  volunteers  returned  home.  For  some  weeks,  the  force 
before  Boston  was  very  small,  amounting  to  only  two  or 
three  thousand  men. 

In  hopes  that  matters  might  possibly  be  reconciled,  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  and  the  Connecticut  Assembly  sent  a  depu- 
tation to  Gage,  to  act  as  mediators — a  step  which  excited 
much  alarm  in  Massachusetts.  The  Provincial  Congress 
remonstrated  against  any  separate  negotiations ;  and  they 
20 


230  HISTORICAL  AND 

voted  Gage  a  public  enemy,  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
tyrants,  whom  there  was  no  further  obligation  to  obey. 
Some  correspondence  took  place  between  Gage  and  Trumbull, 
but  nothing  came  of  the  Connecticut  mediation. 

The  Assembly  of  New  York  having  refused  to  appoint 
delegates  to  the  new  Continental  Congress,  an  ardent  strug- 
gle had  taken  place  in  the  city,  not  altogether  unaccompanied 
with  violence,  on  the  question  of  electing  members  to  a 
Provincial  Convention,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  such 
delegates.  '  The  popular  party  carried  the  day ;  and  by  the 
Convention  presently  held,  twelve  delegates  were  appointed, 
any  five  of  whom  were  authorized  to  represent  the  province 
in  the  Congress. 

The  Corresponding  Committee  of  New  York,  on  receiving 
news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  drew  up  an  Association  for 
the  Defense  of  Colonial  Bights,  which  everybody  was  called 
upon  to  sign — an  expedient  presently  adopted  in  several 
other  of  the  colonies,  those  especially,  in  which  considerable 
differences  of  opinion  existed.  The  same  committee  also 
issued  a  circular  to  the  several  county  committees,  recom- 
mending the  speedy  meeting  of  a  Provincial  Congress,  "  to 
deliberate  on,  and  direct  such  measures  as  may  be  expedient 
for  our  common  safety." 

News  having  arrived  of  the  fight  at  Lexington,  a  great 
public  meeting  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  at  which  measures 
were  taken  for  entering  into  a  volunteer  military  association, 
which  soon  pervaded  the  whole  province.  In  spite  of  the 
admonitions  of  their  elders,  many  of  the  young  Quakers 
took  a  part  in  this  organization.  Mifflin  was  the  moving 
spirit  of  the  whole.  John  Dickinson  accepted  the  command 
of  a  regiment,  as  did  Thomas  M'Kean  and  James  Wilson, 
leading  lawyers  in  the  city.  M'Kean  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, of  Scotch-Irish  descent ;  Wilson  was  born  in  Scot- 
land, but  he  had  studied  law,  and  for  the  last  eight  years 
had  been  a  resident  in  Philadelphia,  where  his  talents  had 
raised  him  to  conspicuous  notice.  The  Assembly,  which  met 
shortly  after,  appropriated  £1,800  toward  the  expenses  of 
the  volunteers.  They  also  appointed  a  Committee  of  Safety, 
of  which  Franklin,  just  returned  from  England,  was  made 
chairman.  This  committee  took  measures  for  the  defense 
of  Philadelphia,  and  in  a  short  time  assumed  the  whole 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  231 

executive  author tity.  Franklin,  Wilson,  and  Willing  were 
added  to  the  congressional  delegation  ;  Galloway,  at  his  own 
earnest  request,  was  excused  from  serving.  Governor  Penn 
laid  Lord  North's  conciliatory  proposition  before  the  Assem- 
bly, but  it  did  not  meet  with  much  favor. 

The  Delaware  Assembly  had  already  approved  the  doings 
of  the  late  Continental  Congress,  and  had  appointed  dele- 

fates  to  the  new  one,  in  which  they  were  presently  imitated 
y  the  Assembly  of  Maryland. 

The  Virginia  Convention,  which  met  at  Kichmond  to 
appoint  delegates  to  the  new  Continental  Congress,  had  been 
persuaded,  by  the  energy  and  eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry, 
to  take  measures  for  enrolling  a  company  of  volunteers  in 
each  county.  Before  news  had  arrived  of  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington, Governor  Dunmore  had  ordered  the  powder  belonging 
to  fhe  province,  to  be  taken  from  the  public  store  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  and  placed  on  board  an  armed  vessel  in  the  river. 
This  proceeding  caused  a  great  excitement,  increased  by  news 
of  the  Lexington  fight.  Having  collected  some  companies 
of  the  new  volunteers,  Henry  marched  toward  Williamsburg, 
and  compelled  the  king's  receiver  to  give  bills  for  the  value 
of  the  powder  taken  away.  Dunmore  sent  his  family  on 
board  a  ship  in  the  river,  fortified  his  palace,  and  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  Henry  and  his  coadjutors  guilty  of 
rebellion ;  but  their  conduct  was  sustained  and  approved  by 
numerous  county  conventions. 

In  spite  of  all  Martin's  efforts  to  prevent  it,  a  Provincial 
Congress  met  in  North  Carolina,  simultaneously  with  the 
Assembly,  and,  for  the  most  part,  composed  of  the  same 
members.  Both  bodies  concurred  in  approving  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  late  Continental  Congress,  and  in  appointing 
delegates  to  the  new  one.  News  arriving  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  an  Association  was  entered  into  by  the  friends  of 
colonial  rights,  pledging  the  associators  to  defend  those 
rights  by  force,  if  necessary.  The  citizens  of  Mechlenburg 
county  carried  their  zeal  so  far,  as  to  resolve,  at  a  public 
meeting,  to  throw  off  the  British  connection,  and  they  framed 
a  formal  Declaration  of  Independence.  We  append  here,  an 
authentic  copy  of  these  famous  Mechlenburg  Kesolutions, 
which  should  be  sacredly  preserved  in  any  record  of  the  early 
acts  of  Sam. 


232  HISTORICAL  AND 

MECHLENBUBG  KESOLUTIONS. 

The  citizens  of  Mechlenburg  county,  in  this  State,  made  a 
declaration  of  independence  more  than  a  year  before  Con- 


gress made  theirs. 


NORTH  CAROLINA,     \ 


Mechlenburg  County,  May  20,  1775. 

In  the  spring  of  1775,  the  leading  characters  of  Mechlen- 
burg county,  stimulated  by  the  enthusiastic  patriotism  which 
elevates  the  mind  above  considerations  of  individual  aggran- 
dizement, and  scorning  to  shelter  themselves  from  the  impend- 
ing storm  by  submission  to  lawless  power,  etc.,  held  several 
detached  meetings,  in  each  of  which  the  individual  senti- 
ments were  "  that  the  cause  of  Boston  was  the  cause  of  all ; 
that  their  destinies  were  undoubtedly  connected  with  those 
of  their  Eastern  fellow-citizens — and  that  they  must  either 
submit  to  all  the  impositions  which  an  unprincipled,  and  to 
them  an  unrepresented  Parliament  might  impose — or  sup- 
port their  brethren  who  were  doomed  to  sustain  the  first  shock 
of  that  power  which,  if  successful  there,  would  ultimately 
overwhelm  all  in  the  common  calamity.  Conformably  to 
these  principles,  Col.  Adam  Alexander,  through  solicitations, 
issued  an  order  to  each  captain's  company  in  the  county  of 
Mechlenburg  (then  comprising  the  present  county  of  Cabanus), 
directing  each  militia  company  to  elect  two  persons,  and  dele- 
gate to  them  ample  power  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  aid 
and  assist  their  suffering  brethren  in  Boston,  and  also  gen- 
erally to  adopt  measures  to  extricate  themselves  from  the 
impending  storm,  and  to  secure,  unimpaired,  their  inalienable 
rights,  privileges  and  liberties,  from  the  dominant  grasp  of 
British  imposition  and  tyranny. 

In  conforming  to  said  order,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1775,  the 
said  delegation  met  in  Charlotte,  vested  with  unlimited 
powers ;  at  which  time  official  news,  by  express,  arrived  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington  on  that  day  of  the  preceding  month. 
Every  delegate  felt  the  value  and  importance  of  the  prize, 
and  the  awful  and  solemn  crisis  which  had  arrived — every 
bosom  swelled  with  indignation  at  the  malice,  inveteracy,  and 
insatiable  revenge  developed  in  the  late  attack  upon  Lexing- 
ton. The  universal  sentiment  was — let  us  not  flatter  our- 
selves that  popular  harangues,  or  resolves — that  popular  vapor 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  233 

will  avert  the  storm,  or  vanquish  our  common  enemy — lot 
us  deliberate,  let  us  calculate  the  issue — the  probable  results, 
and  then  let  us  act  with  energy,  as  brethren,  leagued  to 
preserve  our  property,  our  lives — and  what  is  still  more 
endearing — the  liberties  of  America.  ADAM  ALEXANDER  was 
then  elected  chairman,  and  JOHN  McKNiTT  ALEXANDER, 
clerk.  After  a  free  and  full  discussion  of  the  various  objects 
for  which  the  delegation  had  been  convened,  it  was  unani- 
mously ordained — 

1.  That  whoever  directly  or  indirectly  abetted,  or  in  any 
way,  form,  or  manner,  countenanced   the   unchartered  and 
dangerous  invasion  of  our  rights,  as  claimed  by  Great  Britain, 
is  an  enemy  to  this  country — to  America — and  to  the  inhe- 
rent and  inalienable  rights  of  man. 

2.  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Mechlenburg  county,  do  hereby 
dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  us  to  the 
mother  country,  and  hereby  absolve  ourselves  from  allegiance 
to  the   British  crown,  and  abjure   all  political  connection, 
contract,   association,  with  that  nation,  which  has  wantonly 
trampled  on  our  rights  and  liberties — and  inhumanly  shed 
the  innocent  blood  of  American  patriots  at  Lexington. 

3.  That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a  free  and  independ- 
ent people,  which  is,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  a  sovereign 
and  self-governing  association,  under  the  control  of  no  power 
other  than  that  of  our  God,  and  the  general  government 
of  the  Congress — to  the  maintenance  of  which  independence, 
we  solemnly  pledge  to  each  other  our  mutual  co-operation, 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  most  sacred  honor. 

4.  That,  as  we  now  acknowledge  the  existence  and  control 
of  no  law,  or  legal  office,  civil  or  military,  within  this  county, 
we  do  hereby  ordain  and  adopt,  as  a  rule  of  .life,  all,  each, 
and  every  of  our  former  laws — wherein,  nevertheless,  the 
crown  of  Great  Britain  never  can  be  considered  as  holding 
rights,  privileges,  immunities,  or  authorities. 

5.  That  it  is  also  further  decreed,  that  all,  each,  and  every 
military  officer  in  this  county,  is  hereby  reinstitated  to  his 
former  command  and  authority,  he   acting  conformably  to 
these  regulations.     And  that  every  member  present  of  this 
delegation,  shall  henceforth  be  a  civil  officer — viz :  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  in  the  character  of  a  "  Committee  man,"  to 

20* 


234  HISTORICAL  AND 

issue  process,  hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  controversy, 
according  to  said  adopted  laws,  and  to  preserve  peace,  and 
union,  and.  harmony  in  said  county,  and  to  use  every  exer- 
tion to  spread  the  love  of  country  and  fire  of  freedom,  through- 
out America,  until  a  more  general  and  organized  government 
be  established  in  this  province. 

A  number  of  bylaws  were  also  added,  merely  to  protect 
the  Association  from  confusion,  and  to  regulate  their  general 
conduct  as  citizens.  After  sitting  in  the  Court-house  all 
night,  neither  sleepy,  hungry,  nor  fatigued,  and  after  dis- 
cussing every  paragraph,  they  were  all  passed,  sanctioned, 
and  decreed,  unanimously,  about  2  o'clock,  A.  M.,  May  20. 
In  a  few  days,  a  deputation  of  said  delegation  convened,  when 
Captain  James  Jack,  of  Charlotte,  was  deputed  as  express  to 
the  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  with  a  copy  of  said  resolves 
and  proceedings,  together  with  a  letter  addressed  to  our  three 
representatives,  viz.:  Eichard  Caswell,  Wm.  Hooper,  and 
Joseph  Hughes,  under  express  injunction,  personally,  and 
through  the  State  representation,  to  use  all  possible  means 
to  have  said  proceedings  sanctioned  and  approved  by  the  Gen- 
eral Congress.  On  the  return  of  Captain  Jack,  the  delega- 
tion learned  that  their  proceedings  were  individually  approved 
by  the  members  of  Congress,  but  that  it  was  deemed  prema- 
ture to  lay  them  before  the  House.  A.  joint  letter  from  said 
th'ree  members  of  Congress  was  also  received,  of  the  zeal  in 
the  common  cause,  and  recommending  perseverance,  order, 
and  energy. 

The  subsequent  harmony,  unanimity,  and  exertion  in  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  independence,  evidently  resulting  from 
these  regulations,  and  the  continued  exertion  of  said  delega- 
tion, apparently  tranquilized  this  section  of  the  State,  and 
met  with  the  concurrence  and  high  approbation  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Safety,  who  held  their  sessions  at  Newbern  and  Wil- 
mingtoL,  alternately,  and  who  confirmed  the  nomination  and 
acts  of  the  delegation  in  their  official  capacity. 

From  this  delegation  originated  the  Court  of  Enquiry  of 
this  county,  who  constituted  and  held  their  first  session  in 
Charlotte ;  they  then  held  their  meetings  regularly  at  Char- 
lotte, at  Colonel  James  Harris7,  and  at  Colonel  Phifer's, 
alternately,  one  week  at  each  place.  It  was  a  civil  court, 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  235 

founded  on  military  process.  Before  this  judicature  all  sus- 
picious persons  were  made  to  appear,  who  were  formally  tried, 
and  banished,  or  continued  under  guard.  Its  jurisdiction  was 
as  unlimited  as  toryism,  and  its  decrees  as  final  as  the  con- 
fidence and  patriotism  of  the  country.  Several  were  arrested 
and  brought  before  them  from  Lincoln,  Kowan,  and  the 
adjacent  counties. 

In  addition  to  this  instrument,  is  another,  claimed  to  be  even 
of  prior  date ;  in  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  form  which 
the  final  Declaration  assumed  under  the  hand  of  Jefferson, 
was  very  clearly  sketched  out  for  him  by  the  sagacious  brain 
of  George  Mason.  It  is  the  only  copy  of  this  singular  and 
valuable  document  which  we  have  seen,  and  we  shall,  there- 
fore, lay  it  before  the  readers  of  Sam  without  hesitation,  as 
it  at  least  demonstrates,  in  connection  with  the  Mechlenburgh 
Resolutions,  how  general  and  spontaneous  were  the  sentiments 
of  the  final  Declaration.  That  Jefferson  had  this  document 
before  him,  there  can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt : 

DECLARATION   OF   RIGHTS. 

(Copy  of  the  first  Draught,  by  George  Mason.) 

A  declaration  of  rights,  made  by  the  representatives  of 
the  good  people  of  Virginia,  assembled  in  full  and  free  con- 
vention ;  which  rights  do  pertain  to  them  and  to  their  pos- 
terity, as  the  basis  and  foundation  of  government. 

1.  That  all  men  are  created  equally  free  and  independent, 
and  have  certain  inherent  natural  rights,  of  which  they  can 
not,  by  any  compact,  deprive  or  divest  their  posterity.0  Among 
which  are  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty,  with  the  means 
of   acquiring    and   possessing   property,   and  pursuing  and 
obtaining  happiness  and  safety. 

2.  That  all  power  is,  ly  God  and  nature,  vested  in,  and 
consequently  derived  from  the  people ;  that  magistrates  are 
their  trustees  and  servants,  and  at  all  times  amenable  to 
them. 

3.  That  government  is,  or  ought  to  be,  instituted  for  the 
common  benefit,  protection  and  security  of  the  people,  nation 
or   community.     Of   all  the  various    modes   and   forms   of 


236  HISTORICAL  AND 

government,  that  is  best  which  is  capable  of  producing  the 
greatest  degree  of  happiness  and  safety,  and  is  most  effectu- 
ally secured  against  the  danger  of  mal-ad ministration  ;  and 
that  whenever  any  government  shall  be  found  inadequate  or 
contrary  to  these  purposes,  a  majority  of  the  community  hath 
an  indubitable,  unalienable,  and  indefeasible  right  to  reform, 
alter,  or  abolish  it,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  judged  most 
conducive  to  the  public  weal. 

4.  That  no  man,  or  set  of  men,  are  entitled  to  exclusive 
or  separate  emoluments  or  privileges  from  the  community, 
but  in  consideration  of  public   services  ;  which  not  being- 
descendible,  neither  ought  the  offices  of  magistrate,  legisla- 
tor, or  judge  to  be  hereditary. 

5.  That  the  legislative  and  executive  powers  of  the  State 
should  be  separate  and  distinct  from  the  judicial;  and,  that 
the  members  of  the  two  first  may  be  restrained  from  oppression, 
by  feeling  and  participating  in  the  burthens  of  the  people, 
they  should,  at  fixed  periods,  be  reduced  to  a  private  station, 
and  return  unto  that  body  from  which  they  were  originally 
taken,  and  the  vacancies  be  supplied  by  frequent,  certain, 
and  regular  elections. 

6.  That  elections  of  members  to  serve  as  representatives 
of  the  people  in  the  legislature,  ought  to  be  free,  and  that 
all  men  having  sufficient  evidence  of  permanent  common  inter- 
est with,  and  attachment  to  the  community,  have  the  right 
of  suffrage,  and  cannot  be  taxed,  or  deprived  of  their  prop- 
erty for  public  uses,  without  their  own  consent,  or  that  of 
their  representatives  so  elected,  nor  bound  by  any  law  to 
which  they  have  not,  in  like  manner,  assented  for  the  common 
good. 

7.  That  all  power  of  suspending  laws,  or  the  execution  of 
laws,  by  any  authority,  without  consent  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  is  injurious  to  their  rights,  and  ought 
not  to  be  exercised. 

8.  That  in  all  capital  or  criminal  prosecutions,  a  man 
hath  a  right  to  demand  the  cause  and  nature  of  his  accusa- 
tion, to  be  confronted  with  the  accusers  and  witnesses,  to  call 
for  evidence  in  his  favor,  and  to  a  speedy  trial  by  an  impar- 
tial jury  of  his  vicinage,  without  whose  unanimous  consent 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  237 

he  can  not  be  found  guilty,  nor  can  he  be  compelled  to  give 
evidence  against  himself ;  and,  that  no  man  be  deprived  of 
his  liberty,  except  by  the  law  of  the  land,  or  the  judgment 
of  his  peers. 

9.  That  excessive  bail  ought  not  to  be  required,  nor  exces- 
sive   fines   imposed,   nor   cruel   and   unusual   punishments 
inflicted. 

10.  (This  article  was  inserted  by  the  Convention.) 

11.  That  in  controversies  respecting  property,  and  in  suits 
between  man  and  man,  the  ancient  trial  by  jury  is  preferable 
to  any  other,  and  ought  to  be  held  sacred. 

12.  That   the   freedom  of  the  press  is  one  of  the  great 
bulwarks   of  liberty,  and  can  never  be   restrained   but  by 
despotic  governments. 

13.  That  a  well-regulated  militia,  composed  of  the  body 
of  the  people  trained  to  arms,  is  the  proper,  natural,  and 
safe  defense  of  a  free  State ;  that  standing  armies  in  time 
of  peace,  should  be  avoided,  as  dangerous  to  liberty ;  and 
that,  in  all  cases,  the  military  should  be  under  strict  subor- 
dination to,  and  governed  by  the  civil  power. 

14.  (This  article  was  also  inserted  by  the  Convention.) 

15.  That  no  free  government,  or  the  blessing  of  liberty, 
can  be  preserved  to  any  people,  but  by  a  firm  adherence  to 
justice,  moderation,  temperance,  frugality  and  virtue,  and 
by  frequent  recurrence  to  fundamental  principles. 

16.  That  religion,  or  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  Crea- 
tor, and  the  manner  of  discharging  it,  can  be  directed  only 
by  reason  and  conviction,  not  by  force  or  violence,  and  there- 
fore, that  all  men  should  enjoy  the  fullest  toleration  in  the  exer- 
cises  of  religion,  according   to    the   dictates    of  conscience, 
unpunished  and  unrestrained  by  the  magistrate ;  unless,  under 
cover  of  religion,  any  man  disturb  the  peace,  the  happiness,  or 
the  safety  of  society.     And  that  it  is  the  mutual  duty  of  all, 
to  practice  Christian  forbearance,  love,  and  charity,  toward 
each  other. 

This  Declaration  of  Rights  was  the  first  in  America ;  it 
received  a  few  alterations  or  additions  in  the  Virginia  Conven- 
tion, (some  of  them  not  for  the  better,)  and  was  afterward 
closely  imitated  by  the  other  United  States. 


238  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  foregoing  was  copied  verbatim,  from  the  original,  in 
the  hand-writing  of  the  author,  Col.  George  Mason,  of  Vir- 
ginia, left  in  the  possession  of  his  son,  Gen.  John  Mason, 
of  Georgetown.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  comparison  of  it, 
with  that  which  was  adopted  by  the  Convention,  and  is  still 
in  force,  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  number  the  articles 
as  in  the  adopted  Declaration,  omitting  the  tenth  and  four- 
teenth, which  were  inserted  entire  by  the  Convention,  and  to 
place  those  words  in  italics  which  were  either  expunged  or 
altered,  and  put  an  asterisk  where  others  were  added. 


CHAPTER    XYIII. 

Arnold's  Defeat  before  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point — Gage's  Procla- 
mation exempting  from  pardon  John  Hancock  and  Adams — Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill. 

Previous  to  the  battle  of  Lexington,  the  expediency  of 
seizing  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  had  heen  suggested  to 
the  Massachusetts  Committee  of  Safety.  Their  attention 
was  now  re-called  to  the  subject  by  Benedict  Arnold,  a  New 
Haven  trader  and  shipmaster,  who  commanded  a  company  of 
volunteers  in  the  camp  before  Boston.  Arnold  received  a 
commission  as  colonel,  with  authority  to  raise  men  in  Ver- 
mont to  attempt  the  surprise  of  these  fortresses.  The 
attention  of  Connecticut  had  been  called  to  the  same  subject, 
and,  about  the  time  of  Arnold's  departure,  some  persons 
deputed  for  that  purpose  had  induced  Ethan  Allen  and  Seth 
Warner,  the  two  most  active  leaders  among  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  to  raise  a  force  for  the  same  enterprise. 
Arnold,  as  yet  without  men,  joined  Allen's  party  and 
claimed  the  command,  but,  being  refused,  agreed  to  serve  as 
a  volunteer.  Allen  approached  Ticonderoga  with  eighty 
men,  penetrated  undiscovered  into  the  center  of  the  fort, 
surprised  the  commanding  officer  in  his  bed,  and  summoned 
him  to  surrender  "  in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah  and 
the  Continental  Congress !"  Crown  Point  was  taken  by 
Warner  with  equal  ease.  The  total  garrisons  of  both  points 
were  only  sixty  men.  Upward  of  two  hundred  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  a  large  and  precious  supply  of  powder,  of 
which  there  was  a  great  scarcity  in  the  camp  before  Boston, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  captors.  Arnold  was  presently 
joined  by  some  fifty  recruits,  who  had  seized  a  schooner,  and 

239 


240  HISTORICAL  AND 

taken  several  prisoners  and  some  pieces  of  cannon,  at  Skenes- 
borough,  a  new  settlement,  (now  Whitehall,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Champlain,)  founded  by  Colonel  Skene,  a  British  officer, 
who  had  gone  to  England  to  solicit  an  appointment  as  Gov 
ernor  of  Ticonderoga.  In  this  captured  vessel  Arnold 
proceeded  down  the  lake,  entered  the  Sorel,  surprised  the 
post  of  St.  John's,  where  the  navigation  terminates,  captured 
an  armed  vessel  there,  and  carried  off  some  valuable  stores. 
Allen  proposed  to  hold  St.  John's,  but  was  obliged  to  retire 
by  a  superior  force  from  Montreal.  Arnold,  with  his  vessels, 
returned  to  Crown  Point. 

The  Continental  Congress  proceeded,  meanwhile,  to  the 
delicate  task  of  appointing  a  commander-in-chief.  Unan- 
imity on  this  important  occasion  was  much  promoted  by  John 
Adams,  very  anxious  to  conciliate  the  good-will  and  support 
of  the  southern  colonies.  George  Washington,  present  as  a 
member  of  Congress  from  Virginia,  was  nominated  by  John- 
son, of  Maryland,  and  unanimously  chosen.  It  has  been 
freely  insinuated  that  "  Sam "  zm-personally  had  a  hand  in 
this  nomination,  which  took  every  body  by  surprise,  as  the 
accomplished  soldier  of  fortune  Lee,  or  the  English  renegade 
Gates,  had  been  more  generally  looked  to  as  the  nominee. 
See  our  plate  on  next  page  for  explanation.  He  accepted 
the  appointment  in  a  modest  speech,  in  which  he  declined 
any  compensation  beyond  payment  of  expenses.  Artemas 
Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Phillip  Schuyler,  and  Israel  Putnam, 
were  chosen  major  generals ;  Horatio  Gates,  adjutant  general, 
with  the  rank  of  brigadier.  Ward  and  Putnam  were  already 
in  the  camp  before  Boston,  the  one  as  captain  general,  under 
a  Massachusetts  commission,  the  other  as  a  Connecticut 
brigadier.  Schuyler  had  been  recommended  as  a  major 
general  by  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress.  Gates,  an 
Englishman  by  birth,  formerly  a  captain  in  the  British 
service,  had  recently  sold  out  his  commission  and  settled  in 
Virginia.  Lee  was  a  person  of  very  eccentric  habits,  a  mere 
soldier  of  fortune,  but  possessing  a  high  reputation  for  military 
experience  and  science,  having  served  with  distinction  both  in 
Europe  and  America.  He  held,  at  the  time  of  his  election, 
a*  lieutenant  colonel's  commission  in  the  British  service. 
During  the  last  eighteen  months  he  had  been  traveling 
through  America,  and  had  recently  beeu  induced  by  Gates  to 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  241 

purchase  lands  in  Virginia.  For  some  unknown  private 
cause,  he  was  bitterly  hostile  to  the  British  ministry.  Con- 
gress undertook  to  indemnify  him  for  any  pecuniary  loss  he 
might  sustain  by  entering  into  their  service,  and  subsequently 
advanced  him  $30,000  for  that  purpose.  Before  accepting 
this  American  appointment,  he  resigned  his  British  commis- 
sion in  a  formal  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  A  strenuous 
opposition  was  made  in  Congress  to  the  appointment  of  both 
Lee  and  Gates.  Washington  urged  it  on  account  of  their 
military  knowledge  and  experience,  but  they  both  occasioned 
him  afterward  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

Pomeroy,  Heath,  and  Thomas,  of  Massachusetts ;  Wooster 
and  Spencer,  of  Connecticut ;  and  Greene,  of  Ehode  Island, 
already  holding  colony  commissions  as  general  officers,  were 
commissioned  as  brigadiers.  To  these  were  added  Sullivan, 
a  member  of  Congress  from  New  Hampshire,  and  Mont- 
gomery, of  New  York,  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland. 
Though  bred  a  lawyer,  and  without  military  experience, 
Sullivan  soon  proved  himself  an  able  officer.  Montgomery 
had  served  with  credit  in  a  subaltern  rank  at  the  siege  of 
Louisburg,  and  under  Wolfe  at  Quebec.  Within  two  or  three 
years  past  he  had  disposed  of  his  commission,  had  married 
into  the  Livingston  family,  and  settled  in  New  York,  and, 
along  with  Schuyler,  had  been  recommended  for  military 
rank  by  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress,  of  which  he  was 
a  member.  The  colonels  and  other  inferior  officers  in  the 
camp  before  Boston  were  confirmed  in  their  commands,  and 
presently  received  continental  commissions.  The  selection 
of  general  officers  by  Congress  occasioned  a  good  deal  of 
heart-burning,  particularly  the  Connecticut  appointments. 
Wooster  and  Spencer,  who  had  led  regiments  in  the  last 
French  war,  complained  loudly  at  being  superseded  by  Put- 
nam, who  had  not  risen  in  that  service  beyond  the  rank  of  a 
lieutenant  colonel.  A  representation  on  this  subject  was 
made  to  Congress  by  the  Connecticut  officers  and  the  Connec- 
ticut Assembly.  Pomeroy,  from  some  disgust,  had  already 
retired,  nor  did  he  accept  his  continental  commission. 

Before  these  new  arrangements  were  completed,  an  import- 
ant battle  had  been  already  fought.  Largely  reinforced  by 
the  arrival  of  additional  troops,  under  Generals  Howe,  Bur- 
goyne,  and  Clinton,  distinguished  arid  accomplished  officers, 
21 


242  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  British  Army  in  Boston  had  been  increased  to  twenty 
regular  regiments,  amounting  to  upward  of  ten  thousand 
men.  Thus  strengthened,  Gage  had  issued  a  proclamation 
of  martial  law,  offering  pardon,  however,  to  all  who  would 
forthwith  return  to  their  allegiance,  John  Hancock  and 
Samuel  Adams  excepted,  whose  guilt  was  too  flagitious  to  he 
overlooked. 

We  here  insert  a  copy  of  this  famous  Proclamation  of  the 
English  Gates,  who  was  no  renegade : — 

The  minds  of  men  having  heen  gradually  prepared  for 
the  worst  extremities,  a  number  of  armed  persons,  to  the 
amount  of  many  thousands,  assembled  on  the  19th  of  April 
last,  and  from  behind  walls  and  lurking  holes,  attacked  a 
detachment  of  the  king's  troops,  who,  not  expecting  so  con- 
summate an  act  of  frenzy,  unprepared  for  vengeance,  and 
willing  to  decline,  made  use  of  their  arms  only  in  their  own 
defense.  Since  that  period  the  rebels,  deriving  confidence 
from  impunity,  have  added  insult  to  outrage ;  have  repeat- 
edly fired  upon  the  king's  ships  and  subjects,  with  cannon 
and  small  arms ;  have  possessed  the  roads  and  other  commu- 
nications by  which  the  town  of  Boston  was  supplied  with  pro- 
visions ;  and,  with  a  preposterous  parade  of  military  arrange- 
ment they  affect  to  hold  the  army  besieged ;  while  part  of 
their  body  make  daily  and  indiscriminate  invasions  upon 
private  property,  and  with  a  wantonness  of  cruelty  ever  inci- 
dent to  lawless  tumult,  carry  depredation  and  distress 
wherever  they  turn  their  steps.  The  actions  of  the  19th  of 
April  are  of  such  notoriety,  as  must  baffle  all  attempts  to 
contradict  them,  and  the  flames  of  buildings  and  other  pro- 
perty, from  the  islands,  and  adjacent  country,  for  some  weeks 
past,  spread  a  melancholy  comfirmation  of  the  subsequent 
assertions. 

In  this  exigency  of  complicated  calamities,  I  avail  myself 
of  the  last  effort  within  the  bounds  of  my  duty  to  spare  the 
effusion  of  blood;  to  offer,  and  I  do  hereby  in  his  Majesty's 
name,  offer  and  promise  his  most  gracious  pardon,  to  all  per- 
sons who  shall  forthwith  lay  down  their  arms,  and  return  to 
the  duties  of  peaceable  subjects,  excepting  only  from  the 
benefits  of  such  pardon,  SAMUEL  ADAMS  and  JOHN  HANCOCK, 
whose  offenses  are  of  too  flagitious  a  nature  to  admit  of  any 
other  consideration  than  that  of  condign  punishment. 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.         .        243 

And  to  the  end  that  no  person  within  the  limits  of  this 
proffered  mercy  may  plead  ignorance  of  the  consequences  of 
refusing  it,  I,  hy  these  presents  proclaim,  not  only  the  per- 
sons above  named  and  excepted — but  also  all  their  adherents, 
associates  and  abettors — meaning  to  comprehend  in  those 
terms,  all  and  every  person,  and  persons,  of  what  class, 
denomination  or  description,  soever,  who  have  appeared  in 
arms  against  the  king's  government,  and  shall  not  lay  down 
the  same  as  afore  mentioned ;  and  likewise  all  such  as  shall 
so  take  up  arms  after  the  date  hereof,  or  who  shall  in  anywise 
protect  or  conceal  such  offenders,  or  assist  them  with  money, 
provision,  cattle,  arms,  ammunition,  carriages,  or  any  other 
necessary  for  subsistence  or  offense,  or  shall  hold  secret  cor- 
respondence with  them  by  letter,  message,  signal,  or  other- 
wise, to  be  rebels  and  traitors,  and  as  such  to  be  treated. 

And  whereas,  during  the  continuance  of  the  present  unnat- 
ural rebellion,  justice  can  not  be  administered  by  the  common 
law  of  the  land,  the  course  whereof  has,  for  a  long  time  past, 
been  violently  impeded,  and  wholly  interrupted,  from  whence 
results  a  necessity  for  using  and  exercising  the  law  martial ; 
I  have  therefore  thought  fit,  by  the  authority  vested  in  me, 
by  the  royal  charter  to  this  province,  to  publish,  and  I  do 
hereby  publish,  and  proclaim,  and  order  the  use  and  exercise 
of  the  law  martial,  within  and  throughout  this  province,  for 
so  long  time  as  the  present  unhappy  occasion  shall  necessa- 
rily require  ;  whereof  all  persons  are  hereby  required  to  take 
notice,  and  govern  themselves  as  well  to  maintain  order  and 
regularity  among  the  peaceable  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
as  to  resist,  encounter,  and  subdue  the  rebels  and  traitors 
above  described,  by  such  as  shall  be  called  upon  for  those 
purposes. 

The  New  England  army,  before  Boston,  sixteen  thousand 
strong,  consisted  of  thirty-six  regiments,  twenty-seven  from 
Massachusetts,  and  three  from  each  of  the  other  colonies. 
John  Whitcombe,  who  had  led  a  regiment  in  the  French  war, 
and  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  president  of  the  Congress,  and  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  had  been  appointed  first 
and  second  major-generals  of  the  Massachusetts  forces. 

To  make  the  blockade  of  Boston  more  complete,  by  order 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  Colonel  Prescott,  with  about  a 


244  HISTORICAL  AND 

thousand  men,  including  a  company  of  artillery,  with  two 
field-pieces,  marched  at  nightfall  to  take  possession  of  Bunker 
Hill,  a  considerable  eminence  just  within  the  peninsula  of 
Charlestown,  and  commanding  the  great  northern  road  to  Bos- 
ton By  some  mistake,  Prescott  passed  Bunker  Hill  and 
advanced  to  Breed's  Hill,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  penin- 
sula, and  much  nearer  Boston.  Before  morning  the  troops 
had  thrown  up  a  considerable  redoubt,  greatly  to  the  surprise 
of  the  British,  who  opened  immediately  a  fire  upon  them, 
from  the  ships  in  the  harbor  and  the  batteries  in  Boston. 
Under  the  direction  of  Gridley  and  of  Knox,  late  commander 
of  a  Boston  artillery  militia  company,  the  provincials  labored 
on,  undisturbed  by  the  fire.  By  noon  they  had  thrown  up  a 
breastwork  extending  from  the  redoubt  down  the  northern 
slope  of  the  hill,  toward  the  water.  Cannon  mounted  in  the 
redoubt  would  command  the  harbor,  and  might  make  Boston 
itself  untenable.  To  avert  this  threatened  danger,  three 
thousand  men,  picked  corps  of  the  British  army,  led  by  Gen- 
erals Howe  and  Pigot,  embarked  in  boats  from  the  wharves 
in  Boston,  and  landed  at  the  eastern  foot  of  Breed's  Hill. 
Such  was  the  want  of  order  and  system  in  the  provincial 
camp,  and  so  little  was  the  apprehension  of  immediate  attack, 
that  the  same  troops  who  had  been  working  all  night,  still 
occupied  the  intrenchments.  General  Putnam  was  on  the 
field,  but  he  appears  to  have  had  no  troops,  and  no  command. 
The  same  was  the  case  with  General  Warren,  whom  the 
rumor  of  attack  had  drawn  from  Cambridge.  Two  New 
Hampshire  regiments,  under  Stark,  arrived  on  the  ground 
just  before  the  action  began,  and  took  up  a  position  on  the 
left  of  the  unfinished  breastwork,  but  some  two  hundred 
yards  in  the  rear,  under  an  imperfect  cover,  made  by  pulling 
up  the  rail  fences,  placing  them  in  parallel  lines  a  few  feet 
apart,  and  filling  the  intervening  space  with  the  new-mown 
hay  which  lay  scattered  on  the  hill.  Other  troops  had  been 
ordered  to  Charlestown  ;  but,  owing  to  some  misapprehension, 
they  did  not  arrive  in  season  to  take  part  in  the  battle.  The 
supply  of  ammunition  was  very  short. 

Here  is  Washington  Irving's  description  of  this  important 
battle,  contained  in  his  new  "Life  of  Washington."  He  here 
takes  up  the  word  from  Hildreth. 


KE VOLUTION ARY   INCIDENTS.  245 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

The  sound  of  drum  and  trumpet,  the  clatter  of  hoofs,  the 
rattling  of  gun  carriages,  and  all  the  other  military  din  and 
bustle  in  the  streets  of  Boston,  soon  apprised  the  Americans, 
on  their  rudely  fortified  hight,  of  an  impending  attack. 
They  were  ill-fitted  to  withstand  it,  "being  jaded  by  the  night's 
labor  and  want  of  sleep,  hungry  and  thirsty,  having  brought 
but  scanty  supplies,  and  oppressed  by  the  heat  of  the  weather. 
Prescott  sent  repeated  messages  to  General  Ward,  asking 
reinforcements  and  provisions.  Putnam  seconded  the  request 
in  person,  urging  the  exigencies  of  the  case. 

Ward  hesitated.  He  feared  to  weaken  his  main  body  at 
Cambridge,  as  his  military  stores  were  deposited  there,  and 
it  might  have  to  sustain  the  principal  attack.  At  length, 
having  taken  advice  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  he  issued 
orders  to  Colonels  Stark  and  Read,  then  at  Medford,  to  march 
to  the  relief  of  Prescott,  with  their  New  Hampshire  regi- 
ments. The  order  reached  Medford  about  eleven  o'clock. 
Ammunition  was  distributed  in  all  haste — two  flints,  a  gill 
of  powder,  and  fifteen  balls  to  each  man.  The  balls  had  to 
be  suited  to  the  different  calibres  of  the  guns ;  the  powder 
to  be  carried  in  powder-horns,  or  loose  in  the  pocket,  for  there 
were  no  cartridges  prepared.  It  was  the  rude  turn-out  of 
yeoman  soldiery,  destitute  of  regular  accoutrements. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Americans  on  Breed's  Hill  were 
sustaining  the  fire  from  the  ships  and  from  the  battery  on 
Copp's  Hill,  which  opened  upon  them  about  ten  o'clock. 
They  returned  an  occasional  shot  from  one  corner  of  the  re- 
doubt, without  much  harm  to  the  enemy,  and.  continued 
strengthening  their  position  until  about  eleven  o'clock,  when 
they  ceased  to  work,  piled  up  their  intrenching  tools  in  the 
rear,  and  looked  out  anxiously  and  impatiently  for  the  anti- 
cipated reinforcements  and  supplies. 

About  this  time,  General  Putnam,  who  had  been  to  head- 
quarters, arrived  at  the  redoubt,  on  horseback.  Some  words 
passed  between  him  and  Prescott  with  regard  to  the  intrench- 
ing tools,  which  have  been  variously  reported. 

The  most  probable  version  is,  that  he  urged  to  have  them 
taken  from  their  present  place,  where  they  might  fall  into 


246  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  be  carried  to  Bunker  Hill,  to 
be  employed  in  throwing  up  a  redoubt,  which  was  part  of 
the  original  plan,  and  which  would  be  very  important,  should 
the  troops  be  obliged  to  retreat  from  Breed's  Hill.  To  this, 
Prescott  demurred  that  those  employed  to  convey  them,  and 
who  were  already  jaded  with  toil,  might  not  return  to  his 
redoubt.  A  large  part  of  the  tools  were  ultimately  carried 
to  Bunker  Hill,  and  a  breastwork  commenced,  by  order  of 
General  Putnam.  The  importance  of  such  a  work  was  after- 
ward made  apparent. 

About  rioon,  the  Americans,  descried  twenty-eight  barges 
crossing  from  Boston  in  parallel  lines.  They  contained  a 
large  detachment  of  grenadiers,  rangers  and  light  infantry, 
admirably  equipped,  and  commanded  by  Major  General  Howe. 
They  made  a  splendid  and  formidable  appearance  with  their 
scarlet  uniforms,  and  the  sun  flashing  upon  muskets  and 
bayonets,  and  brass  field  pieces.  A  heavy  fire  from  the  ships 
and  batteries  covered  their  advance,  but  no  attempt  was  made 
to  oppose  them,  and  they  landed  about  one  o'clock  at  Moul- 
ton's  point,  a  little  to  the  north  of  Breed's  Hill. 

Here  General  Howe  made  a  pause.  On  reconnoitering  the 
works  from  this  point,  the  Americans  appeared  to  be  much 
more  strongly  posted  than  he  had  imagined.  He  descried 
the  troops  also  hastening  to  their  assistance.  These  were 
the  New  Hampshire  troops,  led  on  by  Stark.  Howe  imme- 
diately sent  over  to  General  Gage  for  more  forces  and  a 
supply  of  cannon-balls,  those  brought  by  him  being  found, 
through  some  egregious  oversight,  too  large  for  the  ordnance. 
While  awaiting  their  arrival,  refreshments  were  served  out 
to  the  troops,  with  " grog"  by  the  bucketful ;  and  tantalizing 
it  was  to  the  hungry  and  thirsty  Provincials  to  look  down 
from  their  ramparts  of  earth  and  see  their  invaders  seated 
in  groups  upon  the  grass,  eating  and  drinking,  and  preparing 
themselves  by  a  hearty  meal  for  the  coming  encounter. 

The  only  consolation  was  to  take  advantage  of  the  delay, 
while  the  enemy  were  carousing,  to  strengthen  their  position. 
The  breastwork  on  the  left  of  the  position  extended  to  what 
was  called  the  Slough,  but  beyond  this,  the  ridge  of  the  hill 
and  the  slope  toward  the  Mystic  Eiver,  were  undefended, 
leaving  a  pass  by  which  the  enemy  might  turn  the  left  flank 
of  the  position,  and  seize  upon  Bunker  Hill.  Putnam  ordered 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  247 

his  chosen  officer,  Captain  Knowlton,  to  cover  this  pass  with 
the  Connecticut  troops  under  his  command.  A  novel  kind  of 
rampart,  savoring  of  rural  device,  was  suggested  "by  the 
rustic  General. 

About  six  hundred  feet  in  the  rear  of  the  redoubt,  and 
about  one  hundred  feet  to  the  left  of  the  breastwork,  was  a 
post-and-rail  fence,  set  in  a  low  foot-wall  of  stone,  and  ex- 
tending down  to  Mystic  Eiver.  The  posts  and  rails  of  another 
fence  were  hastily  pulled  up  and  set  a  few  feet  in  behind 
this,  and  the  intermediate  space  was  filled  up  with  new-mown 
hay,  from  the  adjacent  meadows.  The  double  fence,  it  will 
bo  found,  proved  an  important  protection  to  the  redoubt, 
although  there  still  remained  an  unprotected  interval  of 
about  seven  hundred  feet. 

While  Knowlton  and  his  men  were  putting  up  this  fence, 
Putnam  proceeded  with  other  of  his  troops  to  throw  up  the 
works  on  Bunker  Hill,  dispatching  his  son,  Captain  Putnam, 
on  horseback,  to  hurry  up  the  remainder  of  his  men  from 
Cambridge.  By  this  time,  his  compeer  in  French  and  Indian 
warfare,  the  veteran  Stark,  made  his  appearance  with  the 
New  Hampshire  troops,  five  hundred  strong.  He  had  grown 
cool  and  wary  with  age,  and  his  march  from  Medford,  a  dis- 
tance of  five  or  six  miles,  had  been  in  character.  He  led  his 
men  at  a  moderate  pace,  to  bring  them  into  action  fresh  and 
vigorous.  In  crossing  the  Neck,  which  was  enfiladed  by  the 
enemy's  ships  and  batteries,  Captain  Dearborn,  who  was  by 
his  side,  suggested  a  quick  step.  The  veteran  shook  his 
head.  "  One  fresh  man  in  action  is  worth  ten  tired  ones," 
replied  he,  and  marched  steadily  on. 

Putnam  detained  some  of  Stark's  men,  to  aid  in  throwing 
up  the  works  on  Bunker  Hill,  and  directed  him  to  reinforce 
Knowlton  with  the  rest. 

Stark  made  a  short  speech  to  his  men,  now  that  they  were 
likely  to  have  warm  work.  He  then  pushed  on,  and  did 
good  service  that  day  at  the  rustic  bulwark. 

About  two  o'clock,  Warren  arrived  on  the  hights,  ready  to 
engage  in  their  perilous  defense,  although  he  had  opposed 
the  scheme  of  their  occupation.  He  had  recently  been  elected 
a  Major  General,  but  had  not  received  his  commission ;  like 
Pomeroy,  he  came  to  serve  in  the  ranks,  with  a  musket  on 
his  shoulder. 


248  HISTORICAL  AND 

Putnam  offered  him  the  command  at  the  fence ;  he  declined 
it,  and  merely  asked  where  he  could  be  of  most  service  as  a 
volunteer.  Putnam  pointed  to  the  redoubt,  observing  that 
he  would  be  under  cover.  "  Don't  think  I  seek  a  place  of 
safety/7  replied  Warren  quickly;  " where  will  the  attack  be 
hottest?"  Putnam  still  pointed  to  the  redoubt.  "That  is 
the  enemy's  object ;  if  that  can  be  maintained,  the  day  is 
ours."  Warren  was  cheered  by  the  troops  as  he  entered  the 
redoubt.  Colonel  Prescott  tendered  him  the  command.  He 
again  declined.  "  I  have  come  to  serve  only  as  a  volunteer, 
and  shall  be  happy  to  learn  from  a  soldier  of  your  experi- 
ence." Such  were  the  spirits  assembled  on  these  perilous 
hights. 

The  British  now  prepared  for  a  general  assault.  An  easy 
victory  was  anticipated;  the  main  thought  was,  how  to  make 
it  most  effectual.  The  left  wing,  commanded  by  General 
Pigot,  was  to  mount  the  hill  and  force  the  redoubt,  while 
General  Howe,  with  the  right  wing,  was  to  push  on  between 
the  fort  and  Mystic  Eiver,  turn  the  left  flank  of  the  Amer- 
icans, and  cut  off  their  retreat. 

General  Pigot  accordingly  advanced  up  the  hill,  under 
cover  of  a  fire  from  field-pieces  and  howitzers,  planted  on  a 
small  hight,  near  the  landing-place  on  Moulton's  Point.  His 
troops  commenced  a  discharge  of  musketry,  while  yet  at  a 
long  distance  from  the  redoubts. 

The  Americans  within  the  works,  obedient  to  strict  com- 
mand, retained  their  fire  until  the  enemy  were  within  thirty 
or  forty  paces,  when  they  opened  upon  them  with  a  tremen- 
dous volley.  Being  all  marksmen,  accustomed  to  take 
deliberate  aim,  the  slaughter  was  immense,  and  especially 
fatal  to  officers.  The  assailants  fell  back  in  some  confusion, 
but,  rallied  on  by  their  officers,  advanced  within  pistol-shot. 
Another  volley,  more  effective  than  the  first,  made  them 
again  recoil.  To  add  to  their  confusion,  they  were  galled  by 
a  flanking  fire  from  the  handful  of  Provincials  posted  in 
Charlestown.  Shocked  at  the  carnage,  and  seeing  the  con- 
fusion of  his  troops,  General  Pigot  was  urged  to  give  the 
word  for  a  retreat. 

In  the  meanwhile,  General  Howe,  with  the  left  wing, 
advanced  along  the  Mystic  Kiver,  toward  the  fence  where 
Stark,  Rea  1,  and  Knowlton  were  stationed,  thinking  to  carry 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  249 

this  slight  breastwork  with  ease,  and  so  get  in  the  rear  of 
the  fortress.  His  artillery  proved  of  little  avail,  being 
stopped  by  a  swampy  piece  of  ground,  while  his  columns 
suffered  from  two  or  three  field-pieces,  with  which  Putnam 
had  fortified  the  fence.  Howe's  men  kept  up  a  fire  of  mus- 
ketry as  they  advanced;  but  not  taking  aim,  their  shot 
passed  over  the  heads  of  the  Americans.  The  latter  had 
received  the  same  orders  with  those  in  the  redoubt — not  to 
fire  until  the  enemy  should  be  within  thirty  paces.  Some 
few  transgressed  the  command.  Putnam  rode  up,  and 
swore  he  would  cut  down  the  next  man  that  fired  contrary  to 
orders. 

When  the  British  arrived  within  the  stated  distance,  a 
sheeted  fire  opened  upon  them  from  rifles,  muskets,  and 
fowling-pieces,  all  leveled  with  deadly  aim.  The  carnage, 
as  in  the  other  instance,  was  horrible.  The  British  were 
thrown  into  confusion,  and  fell  back ;  some  even  retreated  to 
the  boats. 

There  was  a  general  pause  on  the  part  of  the  British. 
The  American  officers  availed  themselves  of  it,  to  prepare 
for  another  attack,  which  must  soon  be  made.  Prescott 
mingled  among  his  men  in  the  redoubt,  who  were  all  *  a  high 
spirits  at  the  severe  check  they  had  given  the  "  regulars." 
He  praised  them  for  their  steadfastness  in  maintaining  their 
post,  and  their  good  conduct  in  reserving  their  fire  until  the 
word  of  command,  and  exhorted  them  to  do  the  same  in  the 
next  attack. 

Putnam  rode  about  Bunker  Hill  and  its  skirts,  to  rally 
and  bring  on  reinforcements,  which  had  been  checked  or 
scattered  in  crossing  Charlestown  Neck,  by  the  raking  fire 
from  the  ships  and  batteries.  Before  many  could  be  brought 
to  the  scene  of  action,  the  British  had  commenced  their 
second  attack.  They  again  ascended  the  hill  to  storm  the 
redoubt ;  their  advance  was  covered,  as  before,  by  discharges 
of  artillery.  Charlestown,  which  had  annoyed  them  on  the 
first  attack  by  a  flanking  fire,  was  in  flames  by  shells  thrown 
from  Copp's  Hill,  and  by  marines  from  the  ships.  Being 
built  of  wood,  the  place  was  soon  wrapped  in  a  general  con- 
flagration. 

The  thunder  of  artillery  from  the  batteries  and  ships,  the 
bursting  of  bombshells,  the  sharp  discharges  of  musketry, 


250  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  sh  juts  and  yells  of  the  combatants,  the  crash  of  burning 
buildings,  and  the  dense  volumes  of  smoke  which  obscured 
the  summer  sun,  all  formed  a  tremendous  spectacle.  "  Sure 
I  am,"  said  Burgoyne,  in  one  of  his  letters — "  Sure  I  am, 
nothing  ever  has  or  ever  can  be  more  dreadfully  terrible 
than  what  was  to  be  seen  or  heard  at  this  time.  The  most 
incessant  discharge  of  guns  that  ever  was  heard  by  mortal 
ears." 

The  American  troops,  though  unused  to  war,  stood  undis- 
mayed amidst  a  scene  where  it  was  bursting  upon  them  with 
all  its  horrors.  Reserving  their  fire  as  before,  until  the 
enemy  was  close  at  hand,  they  again  poured  forth  repeated 
volleys,  with  the  fatal  aim  of  sharpshooters.  The  British 
stood  the  first  shock,  and  continued  to  advance ;  but  the 
incessant  stream  of  fire  staggered  them.  Their  officers 
remonstrated,  threatened,  and  even  attempted  to  goad  them 
on  with  their  swords ;  but  the  havoc  was  too  deadly ;  whole 
ranks  were  mowed  down  ;  many  of  the  officers  were  either 
slain  or  wounded,  and  among  them  several  of  the  staff  of 
General  Howe.  The  troops  again  gave  way,  and  retreated 
down  the  hill. 

All  this  passed  under  the  eyes  of  thousands  of  spectators 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  wratching  from  afar,  every  turn 
of  the  battle  in  which  the  lives  of  those  most  dear  to  them, 
were  at  hazard.  The  British  soldiery  in  Boston,  gazed  with 
astonishment  and  incredulity  at  the  resolute  and  protracted 
stand  of  the  raw  militia,  whom  they  had  been  taught  to 
despise,  and  at  the  havoc  made  among  their  own  veteran 
troops.  Every  convoy  of  wounded  brought  over  to  the  town, 
increased  their  consternation  ;  and  General  Clinton,  who  had 
watched  the  action  from  Copp's  Hill,  embarking  in  a  boat, 
hurried  over  as  a  volunteer,  taking  with  him  reinforcements. 

A  third  attack  was  now  determined  on,  though  some  of 
Howe's  officers  remonstrated,  declaring  it  would  be  downright 
butchery.  A  different  plan  was  adopted.  Instead  of  advanc- 
ing in  front  of  the  redoubt,  it  was  to  be  taken  in  flank  on 
the  left,  where  the  open  space  between  the  breastwork  and 
the  fortified  fence,  presented  a  weak  point.  It  having  been 
accidentally  discovered  that  the  ammunition  of  the  Amer- 
icans was  nearly  expended,  preparations  were  made  to  carry 
the  works  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  and  the  soldiery 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  251 

threw  off  their  knapsacks,  and  some  even  their  coats,  to  be 
more  light  for  action. 

G-eneral  Howe,  with  the  main  body,  now  made  a  feint 
attack  on  the  fortified  fence ;  but  while  a  part  of  his  force 
was  thus  engaged,  the  rest  brought  some  field-pieces  to 
enfilade  the  breastwork  on  the  left  of  the  redoubt.  A 
raking  fire  soon  drove  the  Americans  out  of  this  exposed 
place  into  the  inclosure.  Much  damage,  too,  was  done  in 
the  latter  by  balls  which  entered  the  sallyport. 

The  troops  were  now  led  on  to  assail  the  works  ;  those 
who  flinched,  were,  as  before,  goaded  on  by  the  swords  of  the 
officers.  The  Americans  again  reserved  their  fire  until  their 
assailants  were  close  at  hand,  then  made  a  murderous  volley, 
by  which  several  officers  were  laid  low,  and  General  Howe 
himself  was  wounded  in  the  foot. 

The  British  soldiery  this  time  likewise  reserved  their  fire, 
and  rushed  on  with  fixed  bayonets.  Clinton  and  Pigot  had 
reached  the  southern  and  eastern  sides  of  the  redoubt,  and 
it  was  now  assailed  on  three  sides  at  once.  Prescott  ordered 
those  who  had  no  bayonets,  to  retire  to  the  back  part  of  the 
redoubt,  and  fire  on  the  enemy  as  they  showed  themselves 
on  the  parapet.  The  first  who  mounted,  exclaimed  in  tri- 
umph, "  The  day  is  ours  !" 

He  was  instantly  shot  down,  and  so  were  several  others 
who  mounted  about  the  same  time.  The  Americans,  however, 
had  fired  their  last  round,  their  ammunition  was  exhausted ; 
and  now  succeeded  a  desperate  and  deadly  struggle,  hand  to 
hand,  with  bayonets,  stones,  and  the  stocks  of  their  muskets. 

At  length,  as  the  British  continued  to  pour  in,  Prescott 
gave  the  order  to  retreat.  His  men  had  to  cut  their  way 
through  two  divisions  of  the  enemy,  who  were  getting  in  the 
rear  of  the  redoubt,  and  they  received  a  destructive  volley 
from  those  who  had  formed  on  thp  captured  works.  By  that 
volley  fell  the  patriot  Warren,  who  had  distinguished  him- 
self throughout  the  action.  He  was  among  the  last  to  leave 
the  redoubt,  and  had  scarce  done  so,  when  he  was  shot  through 
the  head  with  a  musket  ball,  and  fell  dead  on  the  ground. 

While  the  Americans  were  thus  slowly  dislodged  from  the 
redoubt,  Stark,  Eead,  and  Knowlton  maintained  their  ground 
at  the  fortified  fence,  which  indeed,  had  been  nobly  defended 
throughout  the  action.  Pomeroy  distinguished  himself  here 


252  HISTORICAL  AND 

by  liis  sharpshooting,  until  his  musket  was  shattered  by  a 
hall.  The  resistance,  at  this  hastily  constructed  work,  was 
kept  up  after  the  troops  in  the  redouht  had  given  way,  and 
until  Colonel  Prescott  had  left  the  hill,  thus  defeating  Gen- 
eral Howe's  design  of  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  the  main 
hody,  which  would  have  produced  a  scene  of  direful  confusion 
and  slaughter.  Having  effected  their  purpose,  the  hrave 
associates  of  the  fence  abandoned  their  weak  outpost,  retiring 
slowly,  and  disputing  the  ground  inch  by  inch,  with  a  regu- 
larity remarkable  in  troops,  many  of  whom  had  never  before 
been  in  action. 

The  main  retreat  was  across  Bunker  Hill,  where  Putnam 
had  endeavored  to  throw  up  a  breastwork.  The  veteran, 
sword  in  hand,  rode  to  the  rear  of  the  retreating  troops, 
regardless  of  the  balls  whistling  about  him.  His  only 
thought  was  to  rally  them  at  the  unfinished  works.  "  Halt ! 
make  a  stand  here!"  cried  he,  "we  can  check  them  yet.  In 
God's  name,  form,  and  give  them  one  shot  more." 

Pomeroy,  wielding  his  shattered  musket  as  a  truncheon, 
seconded  him  in  his  efforts  to  stay  the  torrent.  It  was 
impossible,  however,  to  bring  the  troops  to  a  stand.  They 
continued  on  down  the  hill  to  the  Neck,  and  across  to  Cam- 
bridge, exposed  to  a  raking  fire  from  the  ships  and  batteries, 
and  only  protected  by  a  single  piece  of  ordnance.  The 
British  were  too  exhausted  to  pursue  them  ;  they  contented 
themselves  with  taking  possession  of  Bunker  Hill,  were 
reinforced  from  Boston,  and  threw  up  additional  works  during 
the  night. 

The  provincials  might  consider  such  a  defeat  as  little  less 
than  victory.  Out  of  three  thousand  British  troops  engaged, 
over  one  thousand  were  killed  or  wounded — a  loss,  such  as 
few  battles  can  show.  The  ministry  were  so  little  satisfied 
with  the  accounts  sent  them  of  this  transaction,  that  Gage 
was  superseded  in  command.  The  provincial  loss  was  four 
hundred  and  fifty  ;  but  among  the  slain  was  General  War- 
ren. Ardent,  sincere,  disinterested,  and  indefatigable,  his 
death  was  deeply  deplored.  He  left  an  infant  family  with 
small  means  of  support ;  for  whom,  by  the  zeal  and  perse- 
verance of  Arnold,  the  Continental  Congress  was  at  last 
pushed  to  make  some  provision.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  253 

in  history,  as  having  tested  the  ability  of  the  provin- 
cials to  meet  a  British  army  in  the  field.  That,  however, 
was  a  point,  on  which  the  provincials  themselves  never  had  any 
doubts,  and  the  battle,  at  the  moment,  was  less  thought  of 
than  now.  Nor  were  the  men  engaged  in  it,  all  heroes. 
The  conduct  of  several  officers  on  that  day,  was  investigated 
by  court-martial,  and  one,  at  least,  was  cashiered  for  cow- 
ardice. 

In  contrast  with  the  dastardly  conduct  of  a  few  animals 
known  as  men,  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  we  give  the 
following  letter  from  one  of  the  daughters  of  "  Sam,"  written 
about  this  period,  which  exhibits  the  true  sentiment  of  that 
momentous  time,  and  coming  even  from  the  hearts  of  the 
Women  of  America. 

From  the  Richmond  Enquirer. 
FEMALE  PATRIOTISM. 

The  manuscript  of  the  following  interesting  letter  was 
politely  forwarded  to  us  by  a  gentleman  of  Baltimore,  and 
was  found  among  some  old  papers  of  a  distinguished  lady  of 
Philadelphia.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  a  lady  of  Phila- 
delphia to  a  British  officer  at  Boston,  written  immediately 
after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  previous  to  the  declaration 
of  Independence.  It  fully  exhibits  the  feelings  of  those 
times.  A  finer  spirit  never  animated  the  breasts  of  the 
.Roman  matrons,  than  the  following  letter  breathes : 

SIR  :  We  received  a  letter  from  you  wherein  you  let  Mr. 
S.  know  that  you  had  written  directly  after  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  particularly  to  me,  knowing  my  martial  spirit,  and 
that  I  would  delight  to  read  the  exploits  of  heroes.  Surely, 
my  friend,  you  must  mean  the  New  England  heroes,  as  they 
alone  performed  exploits  worthy  of  fame — while  the  regulars, 
vastly  superior  in  numbers,  were  obliged  to  retreat  with  a 
rapidity  unequalled  except  by  the  French  at  the  battle  of 
Minden.  Indeed,  General  Gage  gives  them  their  due  credit, 
in  his  letter  home,  where  he  says  Lord  Percy  was  remarkable 
for  his  activity.  You  will  not,  I  hope,  take  offense  at  any 
expression  that,  in  the  warmth  of  my  heart,  shall  escape  me, 
when  I  assure  you  that,  though  we  consider  you  a  public  enemy, 
we  regard  you  as  a  private  friend ;  and  while  we  detest  the 
22 


254  HISTORICAL  AND 

cause  you  are  fighting  for,  we  wish  well  to  your  own  personal 
interest  and  safety.  Thus  far  by  way  of  apology.  As  to  the 
martial  spirit  you  suppose  me  to  possess,  you  are  greatly 
mistaken.  I  tremhle  at  the  thought  of  war,  and  of  all  wars, 
a  civil  one ;  our  all  is  at  stake,  and  we  are  called  upon  by 
every  tie  that  is  dear  and  sacred,  to  exert  the  spirit  that 
Heaven  has  given  to  us  in  this  righteous  struggle  for 
liberty. 

I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  done.  My  only  brother  I  have 
sent  to  the  camp,  with  my  prayers  and  blessings ;  I  hope  he 
will  not  disgrace  me ;  I  am  confident  he  will  behave  with 
honor,  and  emulate  the  great  examples  he  has  before  him  ; 
and  had  I  twenty  sons  and  brothers,  they  should  go.  I  have 
retrenched  every  superfluous  expense  in  my  table  and  family ; 
tea  I  have  not  drank  since  last  Christmas,  nor  bought  a  new 
cap  or  gown  since  your  defeat  at  Lexington ;  and,  what  I 
never  did  before,  have  learned  to  knit,  and  am  now  making 
stockings  of  American  wool  for  my  servants,  and  this  way 
do  I  throw  in  my  mite  for  the  public  good.  I  know  this,  that 
as  free  I  can  die  but  once,  but  as  a  slave  I  shall  not  be 
worthy  of  life.  I  have  the  pleasure  to  assure  you  that  these 
are  the  sentiments  of  all  my  sister  Americans.  They  have 
sacrificed  both  assemblies,  parties  of  pleasure,  tea  drinking, 
and  finery,  to  that  great  spirit  of  patriotism  that  actuates  all 
ranks  and  degrees  of  people  throughout  this  extensive  conti- 
nent. If  these  are  the  sentiments  of  females,  what  must 
flow  in  the  breasts  of  our  husbands,  brothers  and  sons  ? 
hey  are,  as  with  one  heart,  determined  to  die  or  be  free.  It 
is  not  a  quibble  in  politics,  a  science  which  few  understand, 
which  we  are  contending  for ;  it  is  this  plain  truth,  which 
the  most  ignorant  peasant  knows,  and  is  clear  to  the  weakest 
capacity,  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  take  their  money  without 
their  consent.  The  supposition  is  ridiculous  and  absurd,  as 
none  but  highwaymen  and  robbers  attempt  it.  Can  you,  my 
friend,  reconcile  it  with  your  own  good  sense,  that  a  body  of 
men  in  Great  Britain,  who  have  little  intercourse  with 
America,  and,  of  course,  know  nothing  of  us,  nor  are  sup- 
posed to  see  or  feel  the  misery  they  would  inflict  upon  us, 
shall  invest  themselves  with  a  power  to  command  our  lives 
and  properties,  at  all  times  and  in  all  cases  whatsoever  ?  You 
say  you  are  no  politician.  Oh,  sir,  it  requires  no  Machia- 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  255 

velian  head  to  develope  this,  and  to  discover  this  tyranny 
and  oppression.  It  is  written  with  a  sunbeam.  Every  one 
will  see  and  know  it,  because  it  will  make  them  feel,  and  we 
shall  be  unworthy  of  the  blessing  of  Heaven  if  we  ever 
submit  to  it. 

All  ranks  of  men  among  us  are  in  arms.  Nothing  is 
heard  now  in  our  streets  but  the  trumpet  and  the  drum ; 
and  the  universal  cry  is  "Americans  to  arms."  All  your 
friends  are  officers;  there  are  Captain  S.  B.,  Lieutenant  B., 
and  Captain  J.  S.  We  have  five  regiments  in  the  city  and 
county  of  Philadelphia,  complete  in  arms  and  uniform,  and 
very  expert  in  their  military  manoeuvres.  We  have  companies 
of  light  horse,  light  infantry,  grenadiers,  riflemen,  and 
Indians,  several  companies  of  artillery,  and  some  excellent 
brass  cannon  and  field  pieces.  Add  to  this,  that  every  county 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Delaware  government,  can  send 
two  thousand  men  to  the  field.  Heaven  seems  to  smile  on 
us,  for  in  the  memory  of  man  never  were  known  such  quan- 
tities of  flax,  and  sheep  without  number.  We  are  making 
powder  fast,  and  do  not  want  for  ammunition.  In  short,  we 
want  for  nothing  but  ships  of  war  to  defend  us,  which  we  could 
procure  by  making  alliances  ;  but  such  is  our  attachment  to 
Great  Britain,  that  we  sincerely  wish  for  reconciliation,  and 
cannot  bear  the  thought  of  throwing  off  all  dependence  upon 
her,  which  such  a  step  would  assuredly  lead  to.  The  God  of 
Mercy  will,  I  hope,  open  the  eyes  of  our  king,  that  he  may 
see  that  in  seeking  our  destruction,  he  will  go  near  to  com- 
plete his  own.  It  is  my  ardent  prayer  that  the  effusion  of 
blood  may  be  stopped.  We  hope  yet  to  see  you  in  this  city, 
a  friend  to  the  liberties  of  America,  which  will  give  infinite 
satisfaction  to  Your  sincere  friend,  C.  L. 

To  CAPTAIN  S.,  in  Boston.  • 

But  here  is  a  still  more  touching  incident,  which,  though 
•at  first  glance  Amazonian  in  aspect,  reveals  truthfully  the 
true  sentiment  of  the  mothers  of  the  heroes  of  an  heroic 
period : 

From  the  Dedham  (Mass.)  Register,  of  December,  1820. 

FEMALE  PEKSEVEKANCE. 

We  were  much  gratified  to  learn  that  during  the  sitting 
of  the  Court  in  this  town,  the  last  week,  Mrs.  Gannett,  of 


256  HISTORICAL  AND 

Sharon,  in  this  county,  presented  for  renewal,  her  claims  for 
services  rendered  her  country,  as  a  soldier  in  the  revolution- 
ary army.  The  following  brief  sketch,  it  is  presumed,  will 
not  be  uninteresting : 

This  extraordinary  woman  is  now  in  the  sixty-second  year 
of  her  age.  She  possesses  a  clear  understanding,  and  a 
general  knowledge  of  passing  events — fluent  in  speech,  and 
delivers  her  sentiments  in  correct  language,  with  deliberate 
and  measured  accents — easy  in  her  deportment,  affable  in 
her  manners,  robust  and  masculine  in  her  appearance.  She 
was  about  eighteen  years  of  age  when  our  revolutionary 
struggle  commenced.  The  patriotic  sentiments  which  in- 
spired the  heroes  of  those  days,  and  urged  them  to  battle, 
found  their  way  to  a  female  bosom.  The  news  of  the  carnage 
which  had  taken  place  on  the  plains  of  Lexington,  had 
reached  her  dwelling — the  sound  of  the  cannon  at  Bunker 
Hill  had  vibrated  on  her  ears — yet,  instead  of  diminishing 
her  ardor,  it  only  served  to  increase  her  enthusiasm  in  the 
sacred  cause  of  liberty,  in  which  cause  she  beheld  her  country 
engaged.  She  privately  quitted  her  peaceful  home,  and  the 
habiliments  of  her  sex,  and  appeared  at  the  headquarters  of 
the  American  army  as  a  young  man,  anxious  to  join  his 
efforts  to, those  of  his  countrymen,  in  their  endeavors  to 
oppose  the  inroads  and  encroachments  of  the  common  enemy. 
She  was  received  and  enrolled  in  the  army  by  the  name  of 
Robert  Shurtliffe.  For  the  space  of  three  years  she  performed 
the  duties,  and  endured  the  hardships  and  fatigues,  of  a 
soldier,  during  which  time  she  gained  the  confidence  of  her 
officers  by  her  expertness  and  precision  in  the  manual  exer- 
cise, and  by  her  exemplary  conduct.  She  was  a  volunteer  in 
several  hazardous  enterprises,  and  was  twice  wounded  by 
musket  balls.  So  well  did  she  contrive  to  conceal  her  sex, 
that  her  companions  in  arms  had  not  the  least  suspicion  that 
.this  "  blooming  soldier  "  fighting  by  their  sides  was  a  female, 
till  at  length,  a  severe  wound  which  she  had  received  in 
battle,  and  which  had  well  nigh  closed  her  earthly  campaign, 
occasioned  the  discovery.  On  her  discovery,  she  quitted  the 
army,  and  became  intimate  in  the  families  of  General  Wash- 
ington and  other  distinguished  officers  of  the  revolution.  A 
few  years  afterward  she  was  married  to  her  present  husband, 
and  is  now  the  mother  of  several  children.  Of  these  facts 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  257 

there  can  be  no  doubt.  There  are  many  living  witnesses  in 
this  county,  who  recognized  her  on  her  appearance  at  the 
court,  and  were  ready  to  attest  to  her  services.  We  often 
hear  of  such  heroines  in  other  countries,  but  this  is  an 
instance  in  our  own  country,  and  within  the  circle  of  our 
acquaintance. 

Heath  was  appointed  major-general  in  Warren's  place, 
and  a  similar  commission  was  given  to  Frye,  both  colonels  in 
the  Masachusetts  army,  and  Frye,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Massachusetts  forces  at  the  unfortunate  capture  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry.  But  these  commissions,  and  the  other  previous 
ones,  were  soon  superseded  by  the  new  continental  appoint- 
ments. About  a  fortnight  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
Washington,  attended  by  several  ardent  young  men  from 
the  southern  provinces,  arrived  in  the  camp,  and  assumed 
the  command.  He  found  there,  excellent  materials  for  an 
army,  but  great  deficiencies  of  arms  and  ammunition,  and 
some  great  defects  of  discipline  and  organization.  To  pre- 
vent the  British,  not  greatly  inferior  in  numbers,  and 
perfectly  armed,  equipped,  and  disciplined,  from  penetrating 
into  the  country,  it  was  necessary  to  guard  a  circuit  of  eight 
or  nine  miles.  Washington  established  his  head-quarters  at 
Cambridge.  Ward,  in  command  of  the  right  wing,'  was 
stationed  at  Eoxbury;  and  Lee,  with  the  left,  on  Prospect 
Hill.  Joseph  Trumbull,  a  son  of  the  governor  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  commissary  for  the  troops  of  that  province,  was 
appointed  commissary-general  of  the  consolidated  army. 
The  post  of  quartermaster-general  was  given  by  Washing- 
ton, under  authority  from  Congress,  to  Mifflin,  who  had  fol- 
lowed him  from  Philadelphia  as  an  aid-de-camp.  The  post 
of  secretary  to  the  commander-in-chief  was  bestowed  on 
Joseph  Reed,  another  Philadelphian ;  but,  on  Reed's  return 
to  Philadelphia  a  few  months  afterward,  Washington  selected 
for  that  important  and  confidential  duty,  Robert  H.  Harri- 
son, a  lawyer  of  Maryland,  with  whom  he  had  formerly  had 
business  relations,  and  who  continued  for  several  years  to 
discharge  its  responsible  duties,  very  much  to  the  general's 
satisfaction.  Edmund  Randolph,  a  nephew  of  Peyton  Ran- 
dolph, but  whose  father,  the  attorney-general  of  Virginia, 
22* 


258  HISTORICAL  AND 

was  a  decided  Hoyalist,  had  accompanied  the  commander-in- 
chief  to  Boston,  and  acted  for  a  while  as  aid-de-camp.  But 
he  was  presently  recalled  to  Virginia  hy  his  uncle's  sudden 
death. 

The  camp  was  soon  joined  by  some  companies  of  riflemen 
from  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Western  Pennsylvania, 
enlisted  under  the  orders  of  Congress.  One  of  the  Virginia 
companies  was  led  by  Daniel  Morgan,  formerly  a  wagoner, 
in  which  capacity  he  had  been  wounded  at  Braddock's  defeat. 
A  man  of  Herculean  frame  and  indomitable  energy,  his 
qualities  as  a  partisan  soon  made  him  distinguished. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  first  Sea  Fight — and  origin  of  the  U.  S.  Navy — Ethan  Allen  taken 
captive  and  sent  to  England — Capture  of  St.  Johns  and  Montreal — The 
expedition  against  Quebec — Reorganization  of  the  Army — Lord  Howe  in 
Boston — Movements  of  the  British  in  Virginia. 

THE  Gaspe*,  an  armed  schooner  in  the  revenue  service,  had 
given  great  and  often  unnecessary  annoyance  to  the  shipping 
employed  in  Narraganset  Bay.  A  plan,  in  consequence,  had 
been  formed  for  her  destruction.  Enticed  into  shoal  water 
by  a  schooner,  to  which  she  had  been  induced  to  give  chase, 
she  grounded,  and  was  boarded  and  burned  by  a  party  from 
Providence.  In  consequence  of  this  daring  outrage,  an  act 
of  Parliament  had  passed  for  sending  to  England  for  trial 
all  persons  concerned  in  the  colonies  in  burning  or  destroying 
his  Majesty's  ships,  dock-yards,  or  military  stores.  A  reward 
of  j£600  sterling,  and  a  free  pardon  to  any  accomplice,  was 
offered  for  the  discovery  of  the  destroyers  of  the  Gaspe* ;  and 
a  board  was  constituted  to  examine  into  the  matter,  com- 
posed of  the  governor  of  Eh  ode  Island,  the  chief  justices  of 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  and  the  judge 
of  the  Admiralty  for  the  Northern  District.  But,  though 
the  perpetrators  were  well  known,  no  legal  evidence  could  be 
obtained  against  them. 

Hildreth  speaks  of  this  as  the  first  sea  fight,  from  which 
statement,  however,  the  old  records  vary  somewhat,  as  the 
following  narrative  will  show : — 

THE   FIRST   SEA   FIGHT. 

The  late  Kev.  Dr.  Bentley,  of  Salem.  Massachusetts,  whose 
decease  was  equally  deplored  by  the  friends  of  religion, 

259 


260  HISTORICAL  AND 

patriotism,  and  literature — who  for  many  years  enriched  the 
columns  of  the  "  Essex  Register"  with  his  remarks,  when 
speaking  of  the  revolutionary  pension  law,  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity to  give  the  following  interesting  scrap  of  history : — 
"  The  following  history  may  discover  how  a  man  may 
engage  in  the  public  service,  and  yet  not  he  qualified  accord 
ing  to  law,  for  the  bounty  of  a  term  short  of  one  year's  service. 
Joshua  Ward,  who  belonged  to  Salem,  but  who  lived  many 
years  at  Marblehead,  a  painter,  marched  on  the  19th  of 
April  to  Charlestown  Neck,  as  a  fifer  of  the  first  company  in 
Colonel  Timothy  Pickering's  regiment  of  militia,  commanded 
by  Captain  William  Pickman,  and  soon  after  entered  the 
army  under  Captain  Thomas  Barnes.  From  Cambridge,  he 
was  ordered  to  Watertown  to  guard  the  public  stores,  and 
remained  at  this  station  till  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  He 
then  joined  the  regiment  under  Colonel  Mansfield,  on  Pros- 
pect Hill,  in  Charlestown,  in  the  Massachusetts  line,  and 
acted  as  fife-major  till  he  joined  General  Sullivan's  brigade, 
on  Winter  Hill,  when  he  was  promoted  to  fife-major-general. 
He  continued  in  the  service  till  the  first  day  of  January, 
1776,  when  he  was  discharged — having  continued  the  time 
of  his  enlistment.  He  then  entered  Captain  Benjamin  Ward's 
company  and  performed  garrison  duty  at  Fort  William  and 
Mary,  now  Fort  Pickering,  till  the  19th  of  June  following. 
He  then  volunteered  with  the  first  Lieutenant  Haraden,  a 
well-known,  brave  and  able  officer,  with  others  of  his  com- 
panions, on  board  the  Tyrannicide,  a  public  armed  brig  of 
fourteen  guns  and  seventy-five  men,  commanded  by  Captain 
John  Fiske,  afterward  a  major-general  in  Massachusetts,  and 
eminent  by  his  public  services.  He  was  in  this  brig  during 
three  cruises,  and  was  at  the  taking  of  eight  prizes,  the  first 
of  which  was  the  king's  armed  schooner  Dispatch,  belonging 
to  Lord  Howe's  fleet,  then  on  their  passage  to  New  York,  it 
being  the  10th  July.  In  the  engagement  one  man  was  killed 
in  the  Tyrannicide,  three  wounded,  and  one  died  of  his  wounds. 
He  continued  in  the  vessel  till  the  14th  of  February,  1777, 
when  he  returned  from  a  four  and  a  half  month's  cruise  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  all  were  discharged.  He  is  now  72 
years  of  age.  In  the  action  with  the  Dispatch,  which  lasted 
seven  glasses,  her  commander,  John  Goodrich,  2d  lieutenant 
of  the  Eenown,  of  fifty  guns,  then  in  the  fleet,  was  killed,  and 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  261 

i  .'veral  men.  Mr.  Moore  sailing  master,  was  wounded,  and 
his  limb  amputated.  Mr.  Collingsin,  midshipman,  had  his 
limb  amputated,  but  he  died.  The  Dispatch  was  so  disabled 
that  they  were  obliged  to  take  her  in  tow,  and  they  brought 
her  into  Salem,  after  being  out  seventeen  days.  The  Dis- 
patch had  eight  carriage  guns,  twelve  swivels,  and  a  comple- 
ment of  forty-one  picked  men  from  different  ships  in  the 
fleet.  This  was  the  first  sea  fight.  The  Tyrannicide  was  the 
first  vessel  that  was  built  for  the  public  service,  and  her  com- 
mission was  signed  by  John  Hancock.  The  Dispatch  was  no 
prize  to  the  crew,  excepting  a  small  bounty  on  her  guns. 
And  yet  this  worthy  man  in  his  poverty  comes  not  within 
the  letter  of  the  law,  and  instead  of  his  bounty,  must  accept 
a  hearty  recommendation  to  the  generous  care  of  his  fellow- 
citizens. 

Our  narrative  carries  us  on  to  the  period  when  the  downfall 
of  British  authority  in  the  colonies  has  become  a  fixed  fact 
in  history,  and  the  United  Thirteen  Colonies  a  firm-rooted 
empire  on  the  face  of  the  New  World !  "  Sam,"  as  we  have- 
now  perceived,  is  stretching  his  huge  arm  toward  the  sea. 

A  constant  alarm  was  kept  up  by  British  cruisers,  which 
hovered  on  the  coast  of  New  England,  and  landed  occasionally 
to  obtain  supplies.  Lieutenant  Mowatt,  who  commanded  one 
of  these  cruisers,  chased  a  vessel  from  the  West  Indies  into 
Gloucester  harbor.  The  boats  sent  to  take  her  being  repulsed 
by  the  townspeople,  Mowatt  fired  upon  the  town,  and  attempt- 
ed to  land.  But  he  was  again  repulsed,  with  the  loss  of  his 
boats,  and  thirty-five  men  taken  prisoners.  Narraganset 
Bay  was  much  annoyed  by  a  squadron  of  British  cruisers, 
and  Bristol  was  bombarded  to  frighten  the  inhabitants  into 
furnishing  a  supply  of  provisions.  Mowatt  was  presently 
sent  to  Falmouth,  (now  Portland,)  where,  a  few  months 
before,  the  loading  of  a  royal  mast  ship  had  been  obstructed 
and  Mowatt  himself  arrested  and  treated  with  some  rudeness. 
On  the  refusal  of  the  inhabitants  to  give  up  their  arms,  after 
allowing  two  hours  for  the  removal  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, a  bombardment  was  commenced,  and  that  rising  town 
of  five  hundred  houses  was  presently  in  flames.  The  towns- 
people, not  to  be  so  frightened,  stood  to  their  arms,  and 
defeated  Mowatt's  attempt  to  land.  Such  outrages  did  but 
exasperate  feelings  already  sufficiently  inflamed. 


262  HISTORICAL   AND 

It  was  not  long  before  the  colonists  tried  their  hands  also 
at  maritime  warfare.  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut  equipped  each  an  armed  vessel  or  two.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts a  law  was  passed  to  authorize  and  encourage  the 
fitting  out  of  privateers,  and  a  court  was  established  for  the 
trial  and  condemnation  of  prizes.  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
South  Carolina  each  had  their  navy  boards  and  armed 
vessels,  and  so  did  Pennsylvania  for  the  defense  of  the 
Delaware.  Five  or  six  armed  vessels,  fitted  out  by  Wash- 
ington, cruised  to  intercept  the  supplies  received  at  Boston 
by  sea.  Most  of  the  officers  of  these  vessels  proved  incom- 
petent, and  the  men  mutinous  ;  but  Captain  Manly,  of  the 
schooner  Lee,  furnished  a  brilliant  exception.  In  the  midst 
of  storms  he  kept  the  hazardous  station  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and,  among  other  prizes,  captured  an  ordnance  brig, 
laden  with  heavy  guns,  mortars,  and  working  tools — a  most 
acceptable  supply  to  the  continental  army. 

Under  instructions  from  the  Assembly  of  Ehode  Island, 
the  delegates  of  that  colony  called  the  attention  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  to  the  subject  of  a  navy.  A  Marine 
Committee  was  appointed,  and  four  armed  vessels  were 
ordered  to  be  fitted  out  at  continental  expense.  All  ships  of 
war  employed  in  harassing  the  colonies,  and  all  vessels 
bringing  supplies  to  the  British  forces,  were  declared  lawful 
prize.  Privateering  was  authorized,  and  the  colonies  were 
requested  to  establish  courts  for  the  trial  of  captures,  reserving 
an  appeal  to  Congress.  Eules  and  regulations  for  the  navy 
were  adopted ;  and  the  Naval  Committee  were  presently 
authorized  to  fit  out  thirteen  frigates,  of  from  twenty-four  to 
thirty-two  guns. 

The  clergy  and  the  seigneurs  of  Canada,  well  satisfied 
with  the  late  Quebec  Act,  were  inclined  to  sustain  the  British 
authority ;  but  some  partisans  of  the  American  cause  were 
hoped  for  among  the  cultivators  and  citizens,  as  well  as 
among  the  immigrants  since  the  conquest.  The  body  of 
the  Canadian  people,  notwithstanding  a  proclamation  of 
martial  law,  paid  very  little  attention  to  Governor  Carleton's 
loud  calls  upon  them  to  arm  for  the  defense  of  the  province. 
Hinman's  Connecticut  regiment,  stationed  at  Ticonderoga, 
at  the  head  of  which  Schuyler  placed  himself,  descended  the 
lake  in  boats,  entered  the  Sorel,  and  occupied  the  Isle  Aux 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  263 

Noix.  After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  on  St.  John's,  where 
was  a  garrison  of  five  or  six  hundred  British  troops,  the 
principal  regular  force  in  Canada,  leaving  the  command  to 
Montgomery,  Schuyler  returned  to  the  rear  to  hasten  forward 
men  and  supplies.  The  equipment  of  the  New  York  regi- 
ments was  greatly  delayed  by  the  difficulty  of  finding  arms, 
and  Woostcr  was  ordered  from  Albany,  to  join  Montgomery. 

Meanwhile  Ethan  Allen,  with  a  small  party,  principally 
Canadians,  was  taken  prisoner  in  a  wild  attempt,  without 
orders,  to  surprise  Montreal.  Contrary  to  Carleton's  usual 
conduct,  Allen  experienced  very  hard  usage,  being  sent  in 
irons  to  England,  and  treated  rather  as  a  leader  of  banditti 
than  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

Joined  by  Wooster  and  some  Canadians,  Montgomery 
renewed  the  siege  of  St.  John's.  By  the  surprise  and  cap- 
ture of  Chambly,  lower  down  the  Sorel,  against  which  he 
sent  a  detachment,  he  obtained  a  seasonable  supply  of  ammu- 
nition, which  enabled  him  to  press  the  siege  of  St.  John's 
with  vigor.  For  the  relief  of  that  important  post,  Governor 
Carle  ton  exerted  himself  to  raise  the  Canadian  militia  ;  but, 
in  attempting  to  cross  from  the  island  of  Montreal  to  the 
south  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  was  repulsed  by  an 
advanced  division  of  Montgomery's  army.  Another  party 
of  Canadian  militia,  from  the  neighborhood  of  Quebec, 
advancing  up  the  Sorel,  was  driven  down  that  river  to  its 
junction  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  at  which  point  the  Ameri- 
cans established  a  post  and  erected  batteries.  Belief  thus  cut 
off,  the  garrison  of  St.  John's  presently  surrendered  as  prison- 
ers of  war;  after  which  Montgomery  pushed  forward  to 
Montreal,  a  town  at  that  time  of  but  two  or  three  thousand 
inhabitants,  open,  and  without  fortifications.  Carleton  passed 
down  the  river  in  a  fast-sailing  boat,  and  escaped  to  Quebec. 
General  Prescott,  with  the  feeble  garrison,  attempted  to 
escape  the  same  way,  but  was  interrupted  by  the  batteries 
at  the  Sorel,  and  taken  prisoner. 

With  the  woolens  found  at  Montreal  the  American  general 
was  enabled  to  clothe  his  troops,  of  which  they  stood  in  great 
need.  A  regiment  of  Canadians  was  organized  under  Col- 
onel Livingston ;  but  Montgomery  encountered  great  dis- 
couragements in  the  lateness  of  the  season  and  the  insubor- 
dination of  his  soldiers,  of  whom  many,  disgusted  with  the 


264  HISTORICAL  AND 

hardships  of  the  service,  deserted  and  returned  home.  Still 
he  pushed  on  for  Quehec,  in  expectation  of  meeting  there  a 
co-operating  force. 

When  obliged  to  give  up  the  command  of  Ticonderoga  to 
Hinman,  Arnold  had  behaved  with  a  good  deal  of  insubordi- 
nation; had  disbanded  his  men,  and  returned  in  disgust  to 
the  camp  before  Boston.  There,  however,  he  presently 
obtained  employment  in  an  enterprise  suggested  some  time 
before  by  Brewer,  colonel  of  one  of  the  Massachusetts  regi- 
ments. Detached  with  eleven  hundred  men,  including  a 
company  of  artillery  and  Morgan's  Virginia  riflemen,  to 
co-operate  with  the  northern  army,  against  Quebec,  Arnold 
ascended  in  boats  to  the  head  of  the  Kennebec,  and,  guided 
in  part  by  the  journal  of  a  British  officer  who  had  passed 
over  that  route  some  fifteen  years  before,  struck  across  the 
wilderness  to  the  head  streams  of  the  Chaudi^re,  down  which 
he  descended  toward  the  capital  of  Canada.  In  crossing  these 
uninhabited  wilds,  the  troop  suffered  severely,  and  the  rear 
division,  discouraged  and  short  of  provisions,  turned  about 
and  gave  over  the  enterprise.  With  the  other  divisions 
Arnold  persevered ;  and,  after  a  six  weeks'  struggle,  a  few 
days  before  Montgomery  entered  Montreal,  he  reached  the 
south  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  opposite  Quebec.  He  was 
kindly  received  by  the  Canadian  peasantry,  and  his  sudden 
appearance  caused  the  greatest  alarm.  Quebec  had  but  two 
hundred  regular  troops ;  there  was  a  good  deal  of  discontent 
among  the  inhabitants.  Could  Arnold  have  crossed  at  once, 
he  might,  perhaps,  in  the  absence  of  Carleton,  have  got  pos- 
session of  the  city.  But,  on  some  intimation  of  his  approach, 
the  boats  had  all  been  removed  or  destroyed,  and  some  days 
elapsed  before  he  could  collect  birch-bark  canoes  in  which  to 
cross.  Meanwhile  Carleton  made  his  appearance,  having 
escaped  down  the  river  from  Montreal.  He  sent  all  the  non- 
combatants  out  of  the  city ;  organized  the  traders  and  others 
into  military  companies ,  landed  the  sailors ;  and,  with  his 
force  thus  increased  to  near  twelve  hundred  men,  put  the 
town  into  a  complete  state  of  defense.  Two  armed  vessels 
were  stationed  in  the  river  to  intercept  Arnold;  but  lie 
crossed  in  the  night ;  and,  ascending  the  same  rugged  preci 
pices  which  Wolfe  had  climbed  before  him,  drew  up  his 
forces  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  His  little  army,  hardly 


EEVOLUTIONAEY  INCIDENTS.  265 

five  hundred  and  fifty  effective  men,  approached  the  city; 
but  the  garrison  did  not  come  out  to  meet  him ;  and.  as  he 
had  no  means  to  undertake  a  siege,  he  retired  some  twenty 
miles  up  the  river  to  wait  for  Montgomery,  of  whose  approach 
he  had  notice. 

Leaving  Wooster  in  command  at  Montreal,  Montgomery 
advanced  down  the  river ;  but  all  his  Connecticut  troops  be- 
came entitled  to  their  discharge  on  the  tenth  of  December, 
and  his  ranks  were  so  thinned  by  desertions  and  the  detach- 
ments he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  him,  that,  when  he 
joined  Arnold,  their  united  force  did  not  exceed  a  thousand 
men.  They  returned,  however,  to  Quebec,  and  opened  bat- 
teries against  it ;  but  their  artillery,  only  a  few  field  pieces, 
was  too  light  to  take  any  effect.  The  works  were  extensive ; 
some  weak  point  might  perhaps  be  found ;  an  assault  was 
resolved  upon,  as  tn*e  last  desperate  chance.  While  a  snow- 
storm was  waited  for,  to  cover  the  movement,  deserters  carried 
into  the  town  information  of  what  was  intended.  To  distract 
the  enemy's  attention,  two  feints  were  made  against  the 
upper  town.  It  was  against  two  opposite  sides  of  the  lower 
town  that  the  real  attacks  were  directed;  the  one  led  by 
Montgomery,  the  other  by  Arnold.  Some  rockets,  thrown 
up  as  a  signal,  being  seen  by  the  enemy,  they  took  the  alarm 
and  hastened  to  the  ramparts.  Montgomery,  with  the  New 
York  troops,  approached  the  first  barrier,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  lower  town.  The  enemy  fled ;  not,  however,  without 
discharging  a  piece  of  artillecy,  by  which  Montgomery  and 
his  two  aids  were  slain.  Discouraged  by  the  loss  of  their 
leader,  this  division  abandoned  the  attack.  Arnold,  on  his 
side,  pushed  through  the  northern  suburb,  and  approached  a 
a  two-gun  battery,  the  advanced  post  of  the  enemy  in  that 
direction.  While  cheering  on  his  men,  the  bone  of  his  leg  was 
shattered  by  a  musket  ball.  He  was  borne  from  the  field ;  but 
Morgan,  at  the  head  of  his  riflemen,  made  a  rush  at  the  battery, 
carried  it,  and  took  the  guard  prisoners.  Morgan  had  no  guide ; 
the  morning  was  dark ;  totally  ignorant  of  the  situation  of 
the  town,  he  came  to  a  halt.  He  was  joined  by  some  frag- 
ments of  other  companies,  and,  when  the  day  dawned,  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  some  two  hundred  men,  who  eagerly 
demanded  to  be  led  against  the  second  barrier,  a  few  paces 
in  front,  but  concealed  froin  sight  by  a  turn  in  the  street. 
23 


266  HISTORICAL  AND 

Morgan  gave  the  order,  and  his-  men  advanced  and  planted 
their  ladders  ;  but  those  who  mounted  saw  on  the.  other  side 
a  double  hedge  of  bayonets  ready  to  receive  them,  while  a 
fire,  at  the  same  time,  was  opened  by  parties  of  the  enemy 
relieved  from  duty  elsewhere  by  the  failure  of  the  other 
attack,  and  sent  out  of  the  gates  to  take  them  in  the  rear. 
Exposed  in  a  narrow  street  to  an  incessant  fire,  Morgan's 
ranks  were  soon  thinned.  His  men  threw  themselves  into 
the  store-houses  on  each  side  of  the  street ;  but,  overpowered 
by  numbers,  benumbed  with  cold,  their  muskets  rendered 
unserviceable  by  the  snow,  they  were  obliged  to  surrender. 
Not  less  than  four  hundred  men  were  lost  in  this  unlucky 
assault,  of  whom  three  hundred  became  prisoners.  Arnold 
retired  with  the  remnant  of  his  troops  three  miles  up  the 
river,  and,  covering  his  camp  with  ramparts  of  frozen  snow, 
kept  up  the  blockade  of  Quebec  through  the  winter. 

While  these  operations  were  carried  on  in  Canada,  the 
term  of  service  of  the  troops  before  Boston  was  rapidly  ap- 
proaching its  termination.  The  time  of  the  Connecticut  and 
Khode  Island  regiments  expired  early  in  December.  None 
of  the  troops  were  engaged  for  a  longer  period  than  the  first 
of  April. 

A  committee  from  Philadelphia  had  visited  the  camp,  and, 
in  consultation  with  Washington,  and  with  committees  from 
the  New  England  colonies,  had  agreed  upon  a  plan,  presently 
sanctioned  by  Congress,  for  the  reorganization  of  the  besieg- 
ing army.  It  was  to  consist,  according  to  this  plan,  of 
twenty-six  regiments,  beside  riflemen  and  artillery  :  Massa- 
chusetts to  furnish  sixteen,  Connecticut  five,  New  Hampshire 
three,  and  Khode  Island  two — in  all,  about  twenty  thousand 
men ;  the  officers  to  be  selected  by  Washington,  out  of  those 
already  in  service,  willing  and  qualified  to  act.  But  this  was 
a  business  much  easier  to  plan  than  to  execute.  The  selection 
of  officers  was  a  most  delicate  and  embarrassing  matter,  in 
which,  not  qualifications  only,  but  provincial  and  personal 
prejudices  had  to  be  consulted,  for  not  a  man  would  enlist 
till  he  knew  the  officers  under  whom  he  was  to  serve.  Even 
then,  enlistments,  though  only  for  a  year,  were  obtained  with 
difficulty.  The  first  effervescence  of  patriotism  was  over. 
The  barracks  were  cold  and  comfortless,  and  the  supply  of 
fuel  scanty.  A  short  experience  of  military  life  had  damped 


BE  VOLUTION"  ARY  INCIDENTS.  267 

the  ardor  of  many.  All  the  new  recruits  required  a  furlough 
to  visit  their  families.  Those  who  did  not  re-enlist  refused 
to  serve  a  moment  heyond  their  time.  One  or  two  of  the 
Connecticut  regiments  marched  off  some  days  beforehand. 
The  camp  was  in  danger  of  heing  left  bare,  and,  to  supply 
the  deficiency  in  the  Continental  regiments,  five  thousand 
militia  had  to  be  called  in,  who  answered  much  better  than 
Washington  had  feared. 

Surrounded  with  difficulties,  the  commander-in-chief  exhi- 
bited a  fortitude,  assiduity,  discrimination,  and  patience  abso- 
lutely essential  for  the  station  which  he  held,  and  amply 
vindicating  the  judgment  of  Congress.  In  his  private  cor- 
respondence he  could  not  wholly  suppress  his  feelings.  He 
complained  bitterly  of  "  an  egregious  want  of  public  spirit," 
and  of  "  fertility  in  all  the  low  arts  of  obtaining  advantage." 

Here  is  one  precious  example  which  we  have  to  offer,  of 
the  metal  and  character  of  the  foe  with  whom  "Sam"  in 
these  early  times  was  compelled,  against  his  will,  to  contend, 
in  the  first  agonies  of  separation  from  the  Primal  Stock.  We 
have  other  instances  of  the  sort  in  reservation. 

Parliament  promptly  voted  twenty-five  thousand  men  to 
be  eniplo3red  in  America.  As  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  enlist- 
ments in  Great  Britain,  Hanoverian  troops  were  hired  to 
garrison  the  fortresses  in  the  Mediterranean,  in  order  to  set 
free  an  equivalent  number  of  British  soldiers,  for  service  in 
America.  This  employment  of  foreign  mercenaries  was  very 
much  stigmatized  by  the  Opposition  ;  but  the  same  policy  was 
presently  carried  much  further.  In  the  course  of  the  session, 
treaties  were  laid  before  Parliament,  by  which  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel  agreed  to 
hire  out  seventeen  thousand  of  their  subjects  to  serve  as 
mercenaries  in  America.  The  employment  of  German  troops 
had  been  suggested  by  Lord  Howe,  who  expressed,  in  his 
correspondence  with  the  ministry,  a  great  dislike  of  Irish 
Catholic  soldiers,  as  not  at  all  to  be  depended  on.  These 
treaties,  after  violent  debates,  were  sanctioned  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  necessary  funds  were  voted.  The  forces  to  be 
employed  in  America  were  thus  raised  to  upward  of  forty 
thousand  men. 

General  Howe,  who  had  now  replaced  Gage  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  British  army,  was  well  satisfied  that  Boston  was 


268  HISTORICAL  AND     ". 

not  a  point  from  which  military  operations  could  be  advan- 
tageously carried  on,  and,  hut  for  the  deficiency  of  shipping, 
would  have  evacuated  that  place  before  the  setting  in  of 
winter.  Abundant  supplies  were  sent  from  England  at  very 
great  expense,  but  many  ships  were  wrecked,  and  others 
were  captured ;  and  the  British  troops  felt  the  want,  during 
the  winter,  of  fuel  and  fresh  provisions.  Fuel  was  supplied 
by  pulling  down  houses.  To  diminish  the  consumption  of 
provisions,  numbers  of  the  poorer  people  were  sent  out  of  the 
town.  The  troops  on  Bunker  Hill  remained  under  canvas 
the  whole  winter,  and  suffered  severely  from  the  cold.  The 
British  officers  amused  themselves  as  they  could.  They 
got  up  balls  and  a  theater.  The  Old  South,  the  largest 
meeting-house  in  the  town,  was  turned  into  a  riding- 
school. 

Lord  Dunmore,  after  his  departure  from  Williamsburg, 
being  joined  by  several  British  armed  vessels  in  the  Chesa- 
peake, began  to  threaten  Lower  Virginia.  The  settlers  west 
of  the  Laurel  Ridge  had  met  at  Pittsburg,  had  agreed  tc 
support  the  American  Association,  and  had  chosen  delegates 
to  the  Virginia  Convention.  Dunmore,  however,  not  without 
hopes  of  making  some  impression  in  that  quarter,  gave  to 
Conolly,  formerly  his  agent  in  that  region,  a  lieutenant- 
colonels  commission,  and  sent  him  to  visit  Gage  at  Boston. 
After  his  return,  Conolly  proceeded  up  the  Chesapeake, 
landed  near  its  head,  and  set  off  with  several  companions  on 
his  way  across  the  mountains,  in  hopes,  by  his  personal  influ- 
ence with  the  western  settlers,  to  raise  a  regiment,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  some  regulars  from  Detroit,  to  operate 
against  the  back  part  of  Virginia.  It'  was  even  said  to  be  a 
part  of  his  plan  to  stimulate  the  Indians  to  hostilities.  But 
the  whole,  scheme  was  cut  short  by  Conolly's  arrest  at  Fred- 
ericton,  in  Maryland,  whence  he  and  his  companions  were 
sent  prisoners  to  Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile  Dunmore  landed  at  Norfolk,  and  seized  and 
carried  off  a  printing-press,  on  which  he  printed  a  proclama- 
tion, which  he  dispersed  abroad,  declaring  martial  law,  calling 
upon  all  persons  able  to  bear  arms,  to  join  him,  and  offering 
freedom  to  all  slaves  and  indented  servants  of  rebels,  who 
would  enlist  under  his  banner.  We  furnish  a  copy  of  this 
infamous  Proclamation : — 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  269 

Since  the  19th  of  May  last  I  have  not  received  a  single 
line  from  any  one  in  administration,  though  I  have  written 
volumes  to  them,  in  each  of  which  1  have  prayed*  to  he 
instructed,  but  to  no  purpose.  I  am  therefore  determined  to 
go  on,  doing  the  hest  of  my  power  for  his  Majesty's  service. 
I  have  accordingly  ordered  a  regiment,  called  the  Queen's 
own  royal  regiment,  of  five  hundred  men,  to  be  raised  immedi- 
ately, consisting  of  a  lieutenant-colonel,  commandant,  a  major, 
and  ten  companies,  each  of  which  is  to  consist  of  one  captain, 
two  lieutenants,  one  ensign,  and  fifty  privates,  with  non- 
commissioned officers  in  proportion.  You  may  observe  by 
my  proclamation,  that  I  offer  freedom  to  the  blacks  of  all  rebels, 
that  join  me,  in  consequence  of  which  there  are  between  two 
and  three  hundred  already  come  in,  and  those  I  form  into 
a  corps,  as  fast  as  they  come  in,  giving  them  white  officers 
and  non-commissioners  in  proportion — and  from  these  two 
plans,  I  make  no  doubt  of  getting  men  enough  to  reduce  this 
colony  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  duty.  My  next  distress  will 
be  the  want  of  arms,  accoutrements  and  money,  all  of  which 
you  may  be  able  to  relieve  me  from.  The  latter  I  am  sure 
you  caa,  as  there  are  many  merchants  here  who  .are  ready  to 
supply  me,  on  my  giving  them  bills  on  you,  which  you  will 
have  to  withdraw,  and  give  your  own  in  their  room.  I  hope 
this  mode  will  be  agreeable  to  you;  it  is  the  same  that 
General  Gage  proposed. 

Having  drawn  together  a  considerable  force,  Dunmore 
ascended  Elizabeth  river  to  the  Great  Bridge,  the  only  pass 
by  which  Norfolk  can  be  approached  from  the  land  side  ;  dis- 
persed some  North  Carolina  militia  collected  there ;  made 
several  prisoners;  and  then,  descending  the  river,  took  pos- 
session of  Norfolk.  The  rise  of  that  town  had  been  very 
rapid.  Within  a  short  time  past  it  had  become  the  principal 
shipping  port  of  Virginia.  Its  population  amounted  to  several 
thousands,  among  whom  were  many  Scotch  traders,  not  well 
disposed  to  the  American  cause. 

Fugitive  slaves  and  others  began  now  to  flock  to  Dun- 
more's  standard.  A  movement  was  now  made  in  his  favor 
on  the  east  shore  of  Maryland,  which  it  required  a  thousand 
militia  to  suppress.  The  Convention  of  Virginia,  not  a  little 
alarmed,  voted  four  additional  regiments,  afterward  increased 
23* 


270  HISTORICAL  AND 

to  seven,  all  of  which  were  presently  taken  into  continental 
pay.  Among  the  colonels  of  the  new  regiments,  were  Mer- 
cer, Stephen,  and  Muhlenberg,  the  latter  a  clergyman,  who 
laid  aside  the  surplice  to  put  on  a  uniform.  The  Committee 
of  Safety  were  authorized  to  imprison  all  persons  guilty  of 
taking  up  arms  against  the  colony,  and  to  appropriate  the 
produce  of  their  estates  to  the  public  service.  Woodford, 
with  the  second  Virginia  regiment,  took  possession  of  the 
causeway  leading  to  the  Great  Bridge,  which  was  still  held 
by  Dunmore's  troops.  An  attempt  to  dislodge  the  Virginians 
having  failed,  with  loss,  Dunmore  abandoned  the  bridge  and 
the  town,  and  again  embarked.  Norfolk  was  immediately 
occupied  by  Woodford,  who  was  promptly  joined  by  Howe's 
regiment  from  North  Carolina. 

After  a  descent  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Virginia,  to  whose 
aid  marched  two  companies  of  Maryland  minute  men, 
being  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  a  British  frigate,  Dunmore 
bombarded  Norfolk.  A  party  landed  and  set  it  on  fire.  The 
town  was  mostly  built  of  wood,  and  that  part  of  it  nearest 
the  water  was  rapidly  consumed.  The  part  which  escaped, 
was  presently  burned  by  the  provincials,  to  prevent  it  from 
becoming  a  shelter  to  the  enemy.  Thus  perished,  a  prey  to 
civil  war,  the  largest  and  richest  of  the  rising  towns  of  Vir- 
ginia. Dunmore  continued,  during  the  whole  summer,  a 
predatory  warfare  along  the  rivers,  of  which  his  naval  supe- 
riority gave  him  the  command,  burning  houses  and  plunder- 
ing plantations,  from  which  he  carried  off  upward  of  a 
thousand  slaves.  He  was  constantly  changing  his  place  to 
elude  attack ;  but  watched,  pursued,  and  harassed,  he  finally 
found  it  necessary  to  retire  to  St.  Augustine  with  his  adher- 
ents and  his  plunder.  (1776.) 

The  draft  of  a  Declaration,  prepared  by  Jefferson,  smd 
reported  by  the  Committee,  was  then  taken  up.  Not  to 
offend  the  friends  of  America  in  Great  Britain,  it  was  agreed 
to  strike  out  several  paragraphs  especially  severe  upon  the 
British  government.  An  emphatic  denunciation  of  the 
slave  trade,  and  a  charge  against  the  king,  of  having  pros- 
tituted his  negative  for  the  defeat  of  all  legislative  attempts 
to  prohibit  or  restrain  "  that  execrable  traffic,"  was  also 


.  KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  271 

omitted.  It  would  have  been  going  too  far  to  ask  Georgia 
to  vote  for  that  clause.  Thus  amended,  the  Declaration  was 
adopted,  and  signed  by  most  of  the  members  present. 

The  new  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  which  met  a 
few  days  after,  at  White  Plains,  with*  authority  to  form  a 
government,  gave  their  sanction  to  the  Declaration,  which 
thus  became  the  unanimous  act  of  the  Thirteen  UNITED 
STATES.  It  was  presently  ordered  to  be  engrossed  on  parch- 
ment, and  was  subsequently  signed  by  all  the  delegates  then 
present,  including  several  who  were  not  members  at  the  time 
of  its  adoption. 

The  proclamation  of  Independence  was  signalized  at  New 
York,  by  destroying  a  picture  of  the  king,  which  had 
decorated  the  City  Hall.  The  king's  leaden  statue,  which 
stood  in  the  Bowling  Green,  was  also  thrown  down  and  run 
into  bullets.  This  feeling  of  exultation  was,  however,  far 
from  unanimous.  A  large  number  of  the  wealthier  citizens 
looked  on  with  distrust;  and  the  Episcopal  clergy  showed 
their  dissatisfaction  by  shutting  up  the  churches. 

Meanwhile,  by  reinforcements  from  Europe,  including  a 
part  of  the  German  mercenaries,  to  whom  were  added  the 
forces  lately  employed  against  Charleston,  and  some  regi- 
ments from  Florida  and  the  West  Indies,  Howe's  army, 
encamped  on  Staten  Island,  was  raised  to  twenty-four  thou- 
sand men. 

The  obstructions  placed  by  General  Putnam,  with  vast 
labor  and  expense,  in  the  Hudson  and  East  Rivers,  were  not 
found  to  answer  the  purpose  intended.  In  spite  of  the  artil- 
lery of  Forts  Washington  and  Lee,  several  British  vessels 
ascended  the  Hudson.  An  attempt  was  made  to  burn  them 
with  fire  ships ;  but,  having  reconnoitered  and  taken  sound- 
ings, they  descended  again  without  material  injury. 

It  was,  however,  by  way  of  Long  Island,  that  Howe  pro- 
posed to  approach  the  city.  Washington  had  expected  as 
much;  and  a  corps  of  the  American  army,  nine  thousand 
strong,  lay  at  Brooklyn,  opposite  New  York,  behind  intrench- 
ments  thrown  up  under  the  direction  of  Greene.  Between 
this  camp  and  the  bay  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Long 
Island,  where  the  British  army  presently  landed,  there 
stretched  a  range  of  thickly-wooded  hills,  crossed  by  two 
roads ;  a  third  road  followed  the  shore  round  the  western 


272  HISTORICAL  AND 

base  of  these  hills ;  a  fourth,  penetrating  inland,  turned 
them  on  the  east.  Intrenchments  had  been  thrown  up  to 
guard  the  passes  over  these  hills  and  around  their  western 
base,  and  troops  had  been  detailed  for  that  service.  A  severe 
attack  of  sickness  haa  obliged  Greene  to  give  up  the  com- 
mand; Putnam,  from  his  recent  transfer  to  it,  was  yet 
imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  situation  of  the  works  and 
passes  in  front  of  the  camp ;  and  in  the  confusion  and  want 
of  discipline  which  prevailed,  the  orders  to  watch  and  guard 
those  passes  were  imperfectly  obeyed. 

Two  British  columns  advancing  by  night,  one  by  the  shore 
road  and  the  other  over  the  hills,  captured  or  evaded  the 
patrols,  forced  the  defiles  without  difficulty,  and  early  the 
next  morning  came  in  contact  with  two  American  corps,  one 
under  Sterling,  sent  forward  by  Putnam,  on  news  of  the 
approach  of  the  British,  to  guard  the  shore  road,  the  other 
under  Sullivan,  who  advanced  hastily,  with  such  troops  as  he 
could  collect,  to  prevent  the  passage  over  the  hills.  Mean- 
while, a  third  British  column,  led  by  Clinton,  proceeded  along 
the  eastern  road,  which  had  been  left  unguarded,  turned  the 
hills,  and  pushed  in  between  Sullivan's  corps  and  the  Ameri- 
can camp.  Driven  backward  and  forward  between  a  double 
fire,  a  few  of  that  corps  took  advantage  of  the  broken  and 
wooded  ground  to  escape  ;  but  the  greater  part  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  Sullivan  along  with  them. 

The  corps  under  Sterling  made  a  steady  resistance  to  the 
troops  in  their  front,  and  when  Clinton  threatened  to  gain 
their  rear,  by  great  exertions  they  got  back  to  the  camp, 
not,  however,  without  losing  their  commander,  who  was  taken 
prisoner  while  covering  the  retreat.  For  this  important  vic- 
tory, in  which  he  lost  less  than  four  hundred  men,  Howe  was 
rewarded  by  the  Order  of  the  Bath.  The  American  loss  was 
never  very  accurately  ascertained ;  but,  beside  several  hun- 
dreds killed  or  missing,  about  a  thousand  remained  prisoners 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Some  five  thousand  men  had 
been  engaged  in  the  battle,  principally  from  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland.  Smallwood's  Mary- 
land regiment,  forming  a  part  of  Sterling's  division,  behaved 
with  great  gallantry,  and  suffered  very  severely. 

The  victorious  forces,  fifteen  thousand  strong,  encamped 
directly  in  front  of  the  American  lines,  which  a  vigorous 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  273 

assault  might  probably  have  carried.  But,  with  the  caution 
fashionable  at  that  day  in  military  operations,  and  not  dimin- 
ished by  the  experiment  at  Bunker  Hill,  preparations  were 
made  for  regular  approaches.  The  camp  at  Brooklyn  had 
been  re-enforced ;  but  Washington  would  not  risk  the  loss  of 
so  considerable  a  part  of  his  army ;  and,  after  holding  a 
council  of  war,  he  determined  to  withdraw  the  troops.  The 
command  of  the  boats  was  given  to  Colonel  Glover,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  they  were  manned  with  the  men  of  his 
regiment,  mostly  fishermen  of  Marblehead.  M'Dougall,  who 
was  not  without  some  experience  in  marine  affairs,  superin- 
tended the  embarkation,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  night, 
favored  by  a  thick  fog,  a  masterly  retreat  was  effected  across 
the  East  Kiver.  As  a  consequence  of  this  movement,  the 
whole  of  Long  Island  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 
Woodhull,  late  president  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  employed 
on  Long  Island,  with  a  small  body  of  militia,  in  driving  off 
cattle,  was  surprised  the  day  after  the  battle  by  a  party  of 
light  horse,  under  Oliver  Delancey,  wounded  after  his  cap- 
ture, and  treated  with  such  cruel  neglect  that  his  wounds 
mortified,  and  he  died  in  consequence.  The  Long  Island 
Tories,  who  had  experienced  considerable  harshess,  had  now 
an  opportunity  to  retort  on  their  opponents. 

Washington  left  a  considerable  force  in  the  city,  but  his 
main  body  was  encamped  on  Harlem  Hights,  very  strong 
ground  toward  the  northern  end  of  York  Island.  That  all 
things  might  be  ready  for  instant  retreat,  the  surplus  stores 
and  baggage  were  sent  across  Harlem  River,  on  the  east  side 
of  which,  at  Morrisania,  Washington's  head  quarters  were 
established. 

It  was  very  desirable,  at  this  moment,  to  obtain  correct 
information  of  the  force  and  position  of  the  British  troops  at 
Brooklyn ;  and,  at  Washington's  desire,  and  the  request  of 
Colonel  Knowlton,  Nathan  Hale,  a  captain  in  one  of  the 
Connecticut  regiments,  a  young  man  of  education  and  en- 
thusiasm, volunteered  on  that  hazardous  service.  He  crossed 
to  Brooklyn,  obtained  the  necessary  information,  and  was 
about  to  return,  when  he  was  arrested  on  some  suspicion,  and 
being  betrayed  by  his  embarrassment,  was  carried  before 
General  Howe,  tried  and  convicted  as  a  spy,  and  hanged  the 
next  morning.  (1776.) 


274  HISTORICAL  AND 

Washington's  army,  by  this  time,  was  greatly  reduced. 
The  term  of  service  of  the  militia  was  fast  expiring.  The 
whole  flying  camp  soon  claimed  their  discharge  ;  and  no  in- 
ducements could  procure  a  moment's  delay.  Some  of  the 
New  York  militia  refused  to  do  duty.  Howe,  they  said, 
offered  "  peace,  liberty,  and  safety" — so  they  understood  his 
proclamation — and  what  more  could  they  ask?  The  Con- 
tinentals were  enlisted  only  for  a  year,  and  their  term  of 
service  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close  ;  nor  did  they  always  wait 
to  complete  it,  desertions  being  very  numerous.  Exclusive 
of  Heath's  division  in  the  Highlands,  and  the  corps  under 
Lee,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson,  Washington's  army  did 
exceed  four  thousand  men.  The  ground  which  he  occupied 
was  a  level  plain  between  the  Hackensack  and  the  Passaic ; 
the  army  had  no  intrenching  tools  ;  and  a  British  Column, 
led  by  Cornwallis,  was  rapidly  approaching. 

Obliged  to  retreat,  .but  anxious  riot  to  be  cut  off  from 
Philadelphia,  Washington  crossed  the  Passaic  to  Newark,  his 
troops  exposed  to  all  the  severity  of  approaching  winter, 
without  tents,  badly  supplied  with  blankets,  and  very  imper- 
fectly clad.  The  British,  well  furnished  with  every  neces- 
sary, pressed  upon  him  with  a  much  superior  force ;  and 
Washington  again  retired,  first  across  the  Raritan  to  Bruns- 
wick, and  thence  to  Princeton,  where  a  corps  was  left,  under 
Stirling,  to  check  the  enemy's  advance,  while  Washington 
continued  his  retreat  to  Trenton,  where  he  transported  his 
remaining  stores  and  baggage  across  the  Delaware. 

The  news  of  Washington's  retreat  produced  the  greatest 
commotion  in  Philadelphia ;  fears  on  one  side,  and  hopes  on 
the  other.  Putnam  had  been  sent  to  take  the  command  in 
that  city.  Mifflin  was  also  there,  endeavoring  to  raise  the 
spirits  of  the  people.  Some  fifteen  hundred  city  militia,  sent 
forward  through  the  active  agency  of  Mifflin,  joined  Wash- 
ington at  Trenton,  and  he  advanced  again  upon  Princeton. 
But  Cornwallis  approached  with  a  superior  force,  and  the 
American  army  was  obliged  to  cross  the  Delaware.  As  the 
rear  guard  left  the  Jersey  shore,  the  advance  of  the  British 
came  in  sight ;  indeed,  during  the  whole  course  of  the  re 
treat,  the  American  rear  guard,  employed  in  pulling  up 
bridges,  was  constantly  within  sight  and  shot  of  the  British 
pioneers  sent  forward  to  rebuild  them.  Washington  had 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  275 

secured  all  the  boats  on  the  Delaware,  and  he  placed  his  forces 
so  as  to  guard  the  principal  fords.  The  enemy,  finding  no 
means  to  cross,  occupied  the  eastern  bank,  above  and  below 
Trenton. 

A  body  of  fifteen  hundred  Hessians,  stationed  at  Trenton, 
was  selected  by  Washington  as  the  object  of  attack.  On 
the  evening  of  Christmas,  with  two  thousand  five  hundred 
men  and  six  pieces  of  artillery,  including  the  New  York 
company  under  Alexander  Hamilton,  he  commenced  crossing 
the  Delaware  about  nine  miles  above  Trenton.  Two  corps 
of  militia,  one  opposite  Trenton,  the  other  lower  down,  at 
Bristol,  under  General  Cadwallader,  were  to  have  crossed  at 
the  same  time ;  but  the  quantity  of  floating  ice  made  the 
passage  impossible.  It  was  only  with  great  difficulty,  and 
after  struggling  all  night,  that  Washington's  troops  got  over 
at  last.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  midst  of 
a  snow-storm,  they  commenced  their  march  for  Trenton,  in 
two  columns,  one  led  by  Greene,  the  other  by  Sullivan, 
Stark's  New  Hampshire  regiment  heading  Sullivan's  advance. 
The  two  columns  took  different  roads — Sullivan  along  the 
bank  of  the  river,  the  other  some  distance  inland.  It  was 
eight  o'clock  before  they  reached  the  town  ;  but  the  Hessians, 
sleepy  with  the  night's  debauch,  were  completely  surprised. 
Some  little  resistance  was  made  by  the  guard  of  the  artil- 
lery, but  they  were  soon  overpowered,  and  the  pieces  taken. 
Washington's  artillery  was  planted  to  sweep  the  streets  of 
the  town.  The  Hessian  commander,  while  attempting  to 
form  his  troops,  was  mortally  wounded.  The  light  horse  and 
a  portion  of  the  infantry,  who  fled  on  the  first  alarm,  escaped 
to  Bordentown.  The  main  body  attempted  to  retreat  by  the 
Princeton  road,  but  found  it  already  occupied  by  Colonel 
Hand  and  his  regiment  of  Pennsylvania  riflemen.  Thus  cut 
off,  ignorant  of  the  force  opposed  to  them,  and  without  enthu- 
siasm for  the  cause,  they  threw  down  their  arms  and  surren- 
dered. About  a  thousand  prisoners  were  taken,  and  six 
cannon.  The  Americans  had  two  frozen  to  death,  two  killed, 
and  a  few  wounded  in  assaulting  the  artillery,  among  them 
James  Monroe,  then  a  lieutenant,  afterward  President  of  the 
United  States.  Had  the  milita,  lower  down,  been  able  to 
cross  the  success  might  have  been  still  more  complete. 


276  HISTORICAL  AND 

Washington  re-crossed  the  Delaware  with  his  prisoners, 
who  were  sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  paraded  through  the 
streets  in  a  sort  of  triumph.  The  British,  astonished  at  such 
a  stroke  from  an  enemy  whom  they  reckoned  already  sub- 
dued, broke  up  their  encampments  along  the  Delaware,  and 
retired  to  Princeton.  Washington  thereupon  re-occupied 
Trenton,  where  he  was  speedily  joined  by  three  thousand  six 
hundred  Pennsylvania  militia,  relieved,  by  the  withdrawal  of 
the  enemy,  from  their  late  duty  of  guarding  the  Delaware. 
At  this  moment  the  term  of  service  of  the  New  England 
regiments  expired ;  but  the  persuasions  of  their  officers,  and 
a  bounty  of  ten  dollars,  induced  them  to  remain  for  six 
weeks  longer. 

Alarmed  by  the  surprise  at  Trenton,  and  the.  signs  of  new 
activity  in  the  American  army,  Howe  detained  Cornwallis, 
then  just  on  the  point  of  embarking  for  England,  and  sent 
him  to  take  the  command  at  Princeton.  Reinforcements 
now  came  up  from  Brunswick,  and  Cornwallis  advanced  in 
force  upon  Trenton.  Washington  occupied  the  high  ground 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  a  small  river  which  enters  the  Dela- 
ware at  that  town.  The  bridge  and  the  ford  above  it  were 
guarded  by  artillery.  After  a  sharp  cannonade,  the  British 
kindled  their  fires  and  encamped  for  the  night.  (1777.) 

Washington  was  now  in  a  dangerous  predicament.  He 
had  about  five  thousand  men,  half  of  them  militia,  but  a  few 
days  in  camp.  Could  such  an  army  stand  the  attack  of  Brit- 
ish regulars,  equal  in  numbers,  and  far  superior  in  discipline 
and  equipments?  To  attempt  to  cross  the  Delaware  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy  would  be  more  hazardous  than  a  battle. 
Washington,  according  to  his  custom,  called  a  council  of  war. 
The  large  force  which  Cornwallis  evidently  had  with  him  led 
to  the  inference  that  the  corps  in  the  rear  could  not  be  very 
strong.  The  bold  plan  was  adopted  of  gaining  that  rear, 
beating  up  the  enemy's  quarters  at  Princeton,  and,  if  fortune 
favored,  falling  on  his  stores  and  «aggage  at  Brunswick.  In 
execution  of  this  plan,  the  American  baggago  was  silently 
sent  off*  down  the  river  to  Burlington  ;  and,  after  replenishing 
the  camp  fires,  and  leaving  small  parties  to  throw  up  intrench- 
ments  within  hearing  of  the  enemy's  sentinels,  the  army 
inarched  off  about  midnight,  by  a  circuitous  route  toward 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  277 

Princeton.  Three  British  regiments  had  spent  the  night  in 
j^hafc  town ;  arid  by  sunrise,  when  the  Americans  entered  it, 
two  of  them  were  already  on  their  march  for  Trenton.  The 
leading  regiment  was  attacked  and  broken  ;  but  it  presently 
rallied,  regained  the  Trenton  road,  and  continued  its  march 
to  join  Lord  Cornwallis.  General  Mercer,  who  had  led  this 
attack  with  a  column  of  militia,  was  not  very  well  supported ; 
he  fell  mortally  wounded  while  attempting  to  bring  his  men 
up  to  the  charge,  and  was  taken  prisoner.  The  marching 
regiment  in  the  rear,  after  a  sharp  action,  gave  way  and  fled 
toward  Brunswick.  The  regiment  in  the  town  occupied  the 
college,  and  made  some  show  of  resistance ;  but  some  pieces 
of  artillery  being  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  they  soon  sur- 
rendered. Three  hundred  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Americans,  besides  a  severe  loss  to  the  enemy  in  killed 
and  wounded.  The  American  loss  was  about  a  hundred, 
including  several  valuable  officers. 

When  Cornwallis  heard  the  roar  of  the  cannon  at  Prince- 
ton, he  penetrated  at  once  the  whole  of  Washington's  plan. 
Alarmed  for  his  magazines  at  Brunswick,  he  hastily  put  his 
troops  in  motion,  and  by  the  time  the  Americans  were  ready 
to  leave  Princeton,  he  was  again  close  upon  them.  Again 
Washington  was  in  great  danger.  His  troops  were  exhausted ; 
all  had  been  one  night  without  sleep,  and  some  of  them 
longer ;  many  had  no  blankets ;  others  were  barefoot ;  all  were 
very  thinly  clad.  It  was  necessary  to  give  over  the  attack 
upon  Brunswick,  and  to  occupy  some  more  defensible  ground, 
where  the  troops  could  be  put  under  cover.  At  Morristown, 
on  the  American  right,  were  the  skeletons  of  three  regi- 
ments, detached,  as  already  mentioned,  from  the  northern 
army  ;  also  the  troops  sent  forward  by  Heath,  but  stopped 
on  the  reception  of  Washington's  countermand.  Some  mili- 
tia had  also  joined  them.  The  high  ground  in  that  vicinity 
offered  many  strong  positions.  As  Cornwallis  would  hardly 
venture  to  cross  the  Delaware  with  an  enemy  in  his  rear, 
Washington  concluded  to  march  for  Morristown,  where  he 
intrenched  himself. 

Not  anxious  to  continue  this  winter  campaign,  Cornwallis 
retired  to  New  Brunswick.  The  parties  sent  out  by  Wash- 
ington to  assail  and  harass  the  British  quarters,  we  re  eagerly 
joined  by  the  inhabitants,  incensed  by  the  plunder  and  ravage 
24 


278  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  the  British  and  Hessians,  against  whom,  even  Howe'b 
protections  had  proved  a  very  uncertain  defense.  Plundej- 
ing,  into  which  soldiers  very  easily  fall,  was  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  British.  Washington  was  again  obliged  to 
issue  stern  orders  against  "  the  infamous  practice  of  plunder- 
ing the  inhabitants,  under  pretense  that  they  are  Tories." 

Another  proclamation  was  presently  issued,  requiring  all 
those  who  had  taken  British  protections,  either  to  remove 
within  the  enemy's  lines,  or  else  to  repair  to  the  nearest 
general  officer,  give  up  their  protections,  and  take  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States.  Objections  were  made 
to  this  proclamation,  and  one  of  the  New  Jersey  delegates 
in  Congress,  raised  some  question  about  it,  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  an  interference  with  State  rights,  allegiance 
being  due  to  the  State,  and  not  to  the  confederacy ;  but 
Congress  sustained  Washington  in  the  course  he  had  taken. 

Huts  were  erected  at  Morristown,  and  there  the  main  body 
of  the  American  army  remained  during  the  winter.  The 
right  was  at  Princeton,  under  Putnam ;  the  left  in  the  High- 
lands, under  Heath  ;  cantonments  were  established  at  vari- 
ous places  along  this  extended  line.  Skirmishes  occasionally 
took  place  between  advanced  parties,  but  for  six  months,  no 
important  movement  was  made  upon  either  side.  Washing- 
ton, busy  in  organizing  the  new  army,  was,  in  fact,  very 
weak.  Kecruits  came  in  but  slowly;  and  detachments  of 
militia,  principally  from  the  eastern  States,  had  to  be  called 
out  for  temporary  service.  These  were  judiciously  posted, 
so  as  to  make  the  best  possible  show ;  but,  for  several 
months,  there  was  little  more  than  the  shadow  of  an  army. 
The  enemy,  made  cautious  by  their  losses,  fortunately  were 
ignorant  of  Washington's  real  situation.  The  strong  ground 
occupied  by  the  Americans,  and  the  winter,  which  had  now 
fairly  set  in,  seemed  to  forbid  the  hope  of  successful  attack. 
In  skirmishes,  the  Americans  were  generally  successful ;  the 
British  quarters  were  straitened,  their  supplies  were  cut  off, 
and  they  were  reduced  to  great  distress  for  forage  and  fresh 
provisions. 

The  recovery  of  the  Jerseys  by  the  fragments  of  a 
defeated  army,  which  had  seemed  just  before  on  the  point 
of  dissolution,  gained  Washington  a  high  reputation,  not  at 
home  only,  but  in  Europe  .also,  where  the  progress  of  the 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  279 

campaign  had  been  watched  with  great  interest,,  and  where 
the  disastrous  loss  of  New  York,  and  the  retreat  through  the 
Jerseys,  had  given  a  general  impression  that  the  Americans 
would  not  be  able  to  maintain  their  Independence.  The 
recovery  of  the  Jerseys  produced  a  reaction.  The  American 
general  was  extolled  as  a  Fabius,  whose  prudence  availed  his 
country  not  less  than  his  valor.  At  home,  also,  these  suc- 
cesses had  the  best  effect.  The  recruiting  service,  which 
before  had  been  almost  at  a  stand,  began  now  to  revive,  and 
considerable  progress  was  presently  made  in  organizing  the 
new  army. 

The  extensive  powers  which  Congress  had  intrusted  to 
Washington,  were  exercised  energetically  indeed,  but  with 
the  greatest  circumspection,  and  a  single  eye  to  the  public 
good.  The  State  appointments  of  officers  for  the  new  army, 
too  often  the  result  of  favoritism,  were  rectified,  so  far  as 
prudence  would  justify;  and,  by  commissions  in  the  sixteen 
additional  battalions,  Washington  was  enabled  to  provide  for 
such  meritorious  officers  as  had  been  overlooked  in  the  new 
appointments. 

We  give  here  a  history  of  cotemporary  events,  by  a  cotem- 
porary,  which  conveys  to  us  much  of  the  realities  of  this 
period  of  trial,  which  nothing  of  the  diction  of  the  Eclectic 
historians  of  the  events  which  now  followed  in  such  rapid 
succession,  will  ever  be  able  to  impress  upon  the  genuine 
children  of  "  Sam."  It  is  a  tedious  history,  compressed  in  a 
few  paragraphs,  by  one  of  those  truly  patriotic  souls,  which 
were  fired  by  the  imminence  of  the  events  which  they  wit- 
nessed. 

THE  POLITICAL  PART  OF  THE  CHARGE  OF  HIS  HONOR,  CHIEF  JUS- 
TICE WILLIAM  HENRY  DRAYTON,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

At  a  Court  of  GENERAL  SESSIONS  OF  THE  PEACE,  OYER 
AND  TERMINER,  ASSIZE,  AND  GENERAL  GOAL  DELIVERY,  begun 
and  holden  at  CHARLESTON,  for  the  district  of  CHARLESTON, 
the  21st  October,  1777,  before  the  Hon.  WILLIAM  HENRY 
DRAYTON,  Esq.,  chief  justice,  and  his  Associates,  justices  of 
said  court. 

Human  policy  at  best  is  but  short-sighted ;  nor  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at,  that  the  original  formation  of  the  continental 


'280  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

army  was  upon  an  erroneous  principle.  Tho  people  of  America 
are  a  people  of  property  ;  almost  every  man  is  a  freeholder. 
Their  superior  rulers  thought  such  men,  living  at  ease  on 
their  farms,  would  not  become  soldiers,  under  long  enlist- 
ments ;  nor,  as  all  that  was  then  aimed  at  was  redress  of 
grievances,  did  they  think  there  would  be  occasion  for  their 
military  services,  but  for  a  few  months.  Hence  the  conti- 
nental army  was  formed  upon  short  enlistments — a  policy 
that  unexpectedly  dragged  America  ^back  to  the  door  of 
slavery.  As  the  time  of  enlistments  expired  the  last  year, 
the  American  army  decreased  in  power,  till  it  possessed  scarce 
anything  but  its  appellation.  And  Washington,  a  name 
which  needs  no  title  to  adorn  it,  a  freeman  above  all  praise, 
having  evacuated  Long  Island  and  New  York  to  a  far  supe- 
rior force,  having  repeatedly  baffled  the  enemy  at  the  White 
Plains,  they,  quitting  that  scene  of  action,  suddenly  took  Fort 
Washington  (Nov.  16),  and  bending  their  course  to  Phila- 
delphia, he,  with  but  a  handful  of  men,  boldly  threw  himself 
in  their  front,  and  opposed  their  progress.  With  a  chosen 
body  of  veterans,  who  have  no  near  prospect  of  discharge,  it 
is  a  difficult  operation  to  make,  an  orderly,  leisurely,  and 
effectual  retreat  before  a  superior  enemy  ;  but  with  Wash- 
ington's little  army,  not  exceeding  four  thousand  men,  raw 
troops,  who  had  but  a  few  weeks  to  serve,  to  make  such  a 
retreat,  for  eighty  miles,  and  through  a  populous  country, 
without  being  joined  by  a  single  neighbor — a  most  discour- 
aging circumstance — nothing  in  the  whole  science  of  war 
could  be  more  difficult ;  yet  it  was  most  completely  performed. 
Washington  caused  the  Delaware  to  bound  the  enemy's 
advance.  He  summoned  General  Lee  with  the  corps  under 
his  command,  to  join  him.  That  veteran,  disobeying  his 
repeated  orders,  for  which  I  presume  rigid  inquisition  is  yet 
to  be  made,  loitering  where  he  should  have  bounded  forward, 
allowed  himself  to  be  surprised  and  made  a  prisoner 
(Dec.  13),  at  a  distance  from  his  troops.  Washingtcn  in 
the.  abyss  of  distress,  seemed  to  be  abandoned  by  the  officer 
next  in  command — by  the  Americans  themselves,  who  seemed 
appalled  by  the  rapid  progress  of  the  enemy.  Kape  and 
massacre,  ruin  and  devastation  indiscriminately  overwhelmed 
whigs  and  tories,  and  marked  the  advance  of  the  British 
forces.  The  enemy  being  but  a  day's  march  from  Philadelphia, 


[REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  281 

the  Quakers  of  that  city,  by  a  public  instrument,  dated  the 
20th  of  December,  declared  their  attachment  to  the  British 
domination — a  general  defection  was  feared — the  Congress 
removed  to  Baltimore — American  liberty  evidently  appeared 
as  in  the  last  convulsion  ! 

Washington  was  now  at  the  head  of  about  two  thousand 
five  hundred  men ;  their  time  of  service  was  to  expire  in  a 
few  days,  nor  was  there  any  prospect  that  they  could  be 
induced  to  stay  longer.  This,  such  as  it  was,  appeared  the 
only  force  that  could  be  opposed  to  the  British,  which  seemed 
to  halt  only  to  give  time  to  the  American  vigor  to  dissolve 
of  itself,  and  display  us  to  the  world  as  an  inconstant  people, 
noisy,  void  of  public  virtue,  and  even  shame.  But  it  was  in 
this  extremity  of  affairs,  when  no  human  resource  appeared 
in  their  favor,  that  the  Almighty  chose  to  manifest  his  power, 
to  show  the  Americans  that  he  had  not  forsaken  them ;  and 
to  convince  the  States  that  it  was  by  him  alone  they  were  to 
be  maintained  in  their  Independence,  if  they  deserved  to  pos- 
sess it. 

Like  Henry  IV.  of  France,  one  of  the  greatest  men  who 
ever  lived,  Washington,  laying  aside  the  generalissimo, 
assumed  the  partisan.  He  had  but  a  choice  of  difficulties. 
He  was  even  in  a  more  desperate  situation  than  that  in 
which  the  king  of  Prussia  was  before  the  battle  of  Torgau ; 
when  there  was  no  step  which  rashness  dictated,  but  prudence 
advised  him  to  attempt.  The  enemy  was  now  in  full  posses- 
sion of  the  Jerseys.  A  principal  body  of  them  were  posted 
at  Trenton,  on  the  Delaware.  Washington  occupied  the 
opposite  bank.  His  army,  our  only  apparent  hope,  now 
somewhat  short  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  was  to  be 
disbanded  in  a  very  few  days  ;  he  resolved  to  lead  it  to  battle 
before  that  fatal  period,  and  at  least  afford  it  an  opportunity 
of  separating  with  honor.  He  prepared  to  attack  the  enemy 
at  the  dawn  of  day,  on  the  26th  of  December.  The  weather 
was  severe.  The  ice  on  the  river  prevented  the  passage  of 
a  part  even  of  his  small  force.  But  with  those  (one  thousand 
five  hundred  men)  that  he  transported  across  the  river,  through 
a  violent  storm  of  snow  and  hail,  he  marched  against  the 
enemy.  The  unavoidable  difficulties  in  passing  the  river, 
delayed  his  arrival  at  their  advanced  posts,  till  eight  in  the 
morning.  The  conflict  was  short.  About  thirty  of  the  British 
24* 


282  HlSTOEICAL  AND 

troops  were  killed.  Six  hundred  fled.  Nine  hundred  and 
nine  officers  and  privates  surrendered  themselves  prisoners, 
with  six  pieces  of  brass  artillery,  and  four  pair  of  colors. 

This  brilliant  success  was  obtained  at  a  very  small  price- 
only  two  officers  and  one  or  two  privates  wounded.  In  a 
word,  the  victory  in  effect  re-established  the  American  affairs. 
The  consent  of  the  victors  to  continue  six  weeks  longer  under 
their  leader,  and  the  elevation  of  the  spirits  of  the  people, 
were  its  immediate  consequences — most  important  acquisitions 
at  that  crisis.  The  enemy  roused  from  their  inactivity,  and 
with  the  view  of  allowing  Washington  as  little  time  as  pos- 
sible to  reap  other  advantages,  they,  in  a  hurry,  collected 
in  force  and  marched  against  him.  He  was  posted  at  Tren- 
ton. On  the  second  of  January,  in  the  afternoon,  the  front 
appeared  ;  they  halted,  with  design  to  make  an  attack  in  the 
morning,  and  in  the  meantime  a  cannonade  was  begun,  and 
continued  by  both  parties  till  dark.  Sanpinck  creek,  which 
runs  through  Trenton,  parted  the  two  armies.  Our  forces 
occupied  the  south  bank,  and  at  night  fires  were  lighted  on 
both  sides.  At  twelve,  Washington  having  renewed  his  fires, 
and  leaving  guards  on  the  passages  over  the  creek,  and  about 
five  hundred  men  to  amuse  the  enemy,  with  the  remainder 
of  his  army,  about  one  in  the  morning,  marched  to  Prince- 
ton to  cut  off  a  re-inforcement  that  was  advancing.  He 
arrived  at  his  destination  by  sunrise,  and  dislodged  them  ; 
they  left  upward  of  one  hundred  men  dead  on  the  spot,  and 
near  three  hundred  more  as  prisoners  to  the  victors. 

It  was  by  such  decisive  conduct  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
avoided  being  overwhelmed  by  a  combined  attack  upon  his 
camp  at  Lignitz,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  August, 
1760,  by  three  armies  led  by  Dann,  Londohn,  and  Czer- 
nicheue,  who  were  advancing  against  him  from  different 
quarters.  In  the  night  the  king  marched,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing, by  the  time  Dann  arrived  at  his  empty  camp,  he  had 
defeated  Londohn  in  his  advance.  So  the  Roman  consul,  C. 
Claudius  Nero,  dreading  the  junction  of  Hannibal  and  his 
brother  Asdrubal,  who  was  in  full  inarch  to  him  with  a 
powerful  re-inforcement,  left  his  camp  before  Hannibal,  with 
such  an  appearance  as  to  persuade  him  he  was  present,  and 
with  the  nerves  and  sinews  of  his  army  privately  quitting  it, 
he  rapidly  marched  almost  the  whole  length  of  Italy,  while 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  288 

Rome  trembled  at  his  steps,  and,  joining  the  other  consul,  he 
defeated  Asdrubal,  who,  had  he  with  his  forces  joined  his 
brother,  had  made  them  in  all  probability  an  over  match  for 
the  Roman.  Thus  equal  geniuses  prove  their  equality  by 
wisely  adapting  their  conduct  to  their  circumstances. 

The  action  at  Trenton  was  as  the  making  of  the  flood. 
From  that  period  success  rolled  in  upon  us  with  a  spring 
tide.  That  victory  gave  us  an  army  ;  the  affair  of  Princeton 
procured  us  a  force  and  the  re-possession  of  all  the  Jerseys 
but  Brunswick  and  Amboy — for  the  enemy,  astonished  at 
Washington's  vivacity,  dreaded  the  loss  of  those  posts,  in 
which  they  had  deposited  their  stores,  and  ran  back  to  hide 
themselves  behind  the  works  they  had  thrown  up  around 
them.  Washington  pursued,  and  by  the  fifth  of  January 
those  forces  which,  but  a  few  days  before,  were  in  full  posses- 
sion of  the  Jerseys,  he  had  closely  confined  to  the  environs 
of  Brunswick  and  Amboy.  In  this  situation  both  armies 
continued  until  the  13th  of  June  last,  when  General  Howe 
made  an  attempt  to  proceed  to  Philadelphia;  but,  being 
baffled,  he  suddenly  abandoned  Brunswick,  (June  22d,)  and 
in  a  day  or  two  after,  Amboy,  and  retired  to  Staten  Island. 

In  the  meantime  General  Burgoyne  was  advancing  from 
Canada  against  Ticonderoga.  He  appeared  before  the  place 
on  the  28th  of  June — a  day  glorious  to  this  country — and 
General  St.  Glair,  who  commanded  in  that  important  post, 
without  waiting  till  the  enemy  had  completed  their  works, 
or  given  an  assault,  to  sustain  which,  without  doubt,  he  had 
been  sent  there,  suddenly  abandoned  the  fortress  and  its 
stores  to  the  enemy,  (July  6th.)  The  public  have  loudly 
condemned  this  evacuation,  and  the  Congress  have  ordered 
strict  inquiry  to  be  made  into  the  cause  of  it. 

General  Burgoyne  having  thus  easily  possessed  himself 
of  Ticonderoga,  immediately-  began  to  measure  the  distance 
to  New  York.  But  being  destitute  of  horses  for  his  dragoons, 
wagons  for  the  conveyance  of  his  baggage,  and  in  urgent 
want  of  provisions,  he  halted  near  Saratoga,  to  give  time  for 
the  operation  of  the  proclamation  he  had  issued  (June  23d) 
to  assure  the  inhabitants  of  security,  and  to  induce  them  to 
continue  at  home  with  their  effects.  But,  regardless  of  public 
engagements,  (August  9th,)  he  suddenly  detached  lieutenant 


284:  HISTORICAL  AND 

colonel  Baum  with  fifteen  hundred  men,  and  private  instruo 
tions  to  strip  the  people  of  their  horses,  wagons,  and  provi- 
sions ;  and  gave  "  stretch "  to  his  Indians  to  scalp  those 
whom  he  had  exhorted  to  "  REMAIN  QUIETLY  AT  THEIR 
HOUSES  !" 

Things  now  wore  a  dreadful  aspect  in  that  part  of  America, 
but  General  Stark  soon  changed  the  countenance  of  affairs. 
With. a  body  of  two  thousand  men,  principally  militia,  he 
attacked  (August  16th)  Lieutenant  Colonel  Baum,  at  Ben- 
nington,  stormed  his  w"brks,  killed  about  two  hundred  of  his 
men,  took  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  prisoners,  together  with 
four  brass  field  pieces  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  baggage, 
losing  only  about  thirty  men  killed  and  fifty  wounded.  This 
successful  attack  at  once  rescued  the  country  from  massacre 
and  ruin,  and  deprived  General  Burgoyne  of  those  supplies 
which  alone  could  enable  him  to  advance ;  nor  was  it  less 
important  in  respect  to  the  time  at  which  it  was  made.  For 
at  this  juncture,  Fort  Stanwix  was  hard  pressed  by  General 
St.  Ledger,  who,  having  advanced  from  Lake  Ontario,  had 
laid  siege  to  it  on  the  2d  of  August.  General  Arnold  had 
been  preparing  to  march  to  its  relief,  and  he  had  now  full 
liberty  to  continue  his  route.  His  near  approach  compelled 
the  enemy  with  precipitation  to  raise  the  siege,  (August  22,) 
leaving  their  tents,  and  a  large  part  of  their  ammunition, 
stores,  provisions  and  baggage,  nor  did  he  lose  any  time  in 
setting  out  in  pursuit  of  them. 

Such  unexpected  strokes  utterly  discouraged  General  Bur- 
goyne. Our  militia  began  to  assemble  in  considerable 
numbers.  He  now  anxiously  cast  his  eyes  behind  to  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  wished  to  trace  back  his  steps;  but,  while 
General  Gates  was  advancing  against  his  front,  at  Stillwater, 
with  considerable  force,  the  front  of  Bennington  and  Stanwix, 
a  part  of  the  American  troops  had  occupied  posts  in  his  rear, 
and  even  penetrated  to  Ticonderoga.  In  their  advance  they 
took  two  hundred  batteaux  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-three 
prisoners ;  and  having  seized  the  old  French  lines  near  that 
fortress,  on  the  18th  of  September  they  summoned  the  place 
to  surrender.  Later  advices,  which,  though  not  indisputable, 
yet  well  authenticated,  say  General  Burgoyne  is  totally 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner,  and  that  Ticonderoga,  with  all 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  285 

its  stores,  is  in  our  possession.  Indeed,  from  the  events  ive 
already  know,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Ameri- 
can arms  are  decisively  triumphant  in  that  quarter. 

As  to  General  Howe,  at  the  head  of  the  grand  British 
army,  even  when  the  campaign  was  far  advanced,  he  had 
not  done  anything  in  aid  of  his  master's  promise,  in  June 
last,  to  his  Parliament,  that  his  forces  would  "  effectually 
crush  "  America  in  the  course  of  "  the  present  campaign." 
Driven  from  the  Jerseys,  and  having  embarked  his  troops,  on 
the  23d  of  July,  he  put  to  sea  from  Sandy  Hook,  with  two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  sail,  and  having  entered  the  Chesa- 
peake, he  landed  his  army  (about  twelve  thousand  strong) 
the  30th  of  August,  on  Turkey  Point,  at  the  head  of  the 
bay.  Skirmishing  with  the  American  light  troops,  he  pushed 
on  to  Brandywine  Creek,  behind  which  Washington  was 
posted  to  obstruct  his  passage.  By  a  double  onset,  on  the 
llth  of  September,  at  Chad's  Ford  and  Jones',  six  miles 
above,  when,  because  of  uncertain  and  contradictory  intelli- 
gence, Washington  had  not  made  a  disposition,  adequate  to 
the  force  with  which  the  enemy  attacked,  they  crossed,  first 
at  Jones'  and  then  at  Chad's.  The  engagement  was  long 
and  obstinate.  The  highest  account  does  not  make  our 
whole  loss  exceed  one  thousand  men  and  nine  field-pieces  ; 
the  lowest  statement  of  the  enemy  is  not  so  low  as  one  thou- 
sand killed — a  slaughter,  from  which  we  may  form  some 
idea  of  the  proportion  of  their  wounded.  Not  having  made 
good  the  defense  of  the  Brandywine,  the  American  army  fell 
back  twenty-six  miles,  to  the  Schuylkill ;  nor  did  General 
Howe  derive  any  advantage  from  the  possession  of  the  field 
of  battle.  This  is  the  fortieth  day  since  the  engagement, 
and  we  have  heard  from  Philadelphia,  in  less  than  half  the 
time,  circumstances  furnishing  reasonable  ground  to  conclude, 
that  for  at  least  three  weeks  after  his  victory,  General  Howe 
made  no  impression  upon  the  army  of  the  United  States ; 
and  that  he  purchased  his  passage  of  the  Brandywine  at  no 
small  price.  He  carried  Bunker  Hill ;  but  he  lost  Boston. 
I  trust  he  has  passed  the  Brandywine  but  to  sacrifice  his 
army  as  it  were,  in  presence  of  our  illustrious  Congress,  as 
an  atonement  for  his  ravages  and  conflagrations  in  America. 

Having  thus  taken  a  general  and  concise  view  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  war  in  the  north,  let  us  now  turn  our  attention 


28(>  HISTORICAL  AND 

to  our  situation  at  home.  In  respect  of  our  government,  it 
is  affectionately  obeyed.  With  regard  to  cannon,  arms  and 
ammunition,  we  are  in  a  truly  respectable  condition.  As  to 
trade,  we  are  the  grand  emporium  for  the  continent.  Oh ! 
that  I  could  but  give  as  good  an  account  of  the  public  vigor 
of  the  people. 

Alas  !  it  seems  to  have  been  exported  in  the  same  bottoms 
with  the  growth  of  their  lands.  What  ?  are  we  sensible  that 
we  are  yet  at  war  with  Great  Britain  ?  We  proceed  as  if 
we  had  totally  vanquished  the  enemy.  Are  we  aware,  that 
to  continue  such  a  conduct  is  to  allure  them  to  enact  in  this 
State,  that  tragedy  they  performed  the  last  winter  in  the 
Jerseys?  Do  we  intend  to  acquire  an  experimental  know- 
ledge of  the  horrors  of  war  ?  Do  we  desire  to  be  driven 
from  this  beautiful  town — to  be.  dispossessed  of  this  valuable 
seat  of  trade — to  see  ourselves  flying  we  know  not  whither — 
our  heirs  uselessly  sacrificed  in  our  sight,  and  their  bodies 
mangled  with  repeated  stabs  of  bayonets  ?  Tell  me,  do  you 
mean  that  your  ears  shall  be  pierced  with  the  unavailing 
shrieks  of  your  wives,  and  the  agonizing  screams  of  your 
daughters,  under  the  brutal  violence  of  British  or  Brunswick 
ruffians?  Bouse,  rouse  yourselves  into  an  activity  capable 
of  securing  you  against  such  horrors.  In  every  quarter  the 
enemy  are  vanquished  or  baffled.  They  are  at  a  stand. 
Cease,  my  beloved  countrymen,  cease,  by  your  languor  in 
public  defense,  and  youii  ardor  after  private  gain,  to  invite 
them  to  turn  their  steps  this  way  and  seize  your  country  as 
a  rich  and  easy  prey.  The  States  of  America  are  attacked 
by  Britain.  They  ought  to  consider  themselves  as  an  army 
drawn  up  to  receive  the  shock  of  assault,  and  from  the  nature 
of  their  ground,  occupying  thirteen  towns  and  villages  in 
the  extent  of  their  line.  Common  prudence  dictates  that 
the  several  corps,  in  their  respective  stations,  during  the 
whole  time  they  are  in  battalia,  should  use  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance and  diligence  in  being  on  their  guard,  and  in  adding 
strength  to  strength  for  their  security.  We  are  in  the  right 
wing  of  the  American  line,  and  at  a  distance  from  the  main 
"body — are  we  doing  our  duty  ?  Nofc  we  have  in  a  manner 
laid  up  our  arms — nay,  even  prizes  are  prepared  for  the 
horse-race  !  We  can  spare  no  laborers  to  the  public,  because 
we  are  employing  them  to  collect,  on  all  sides,  articles  of 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  287 

private  emolument.  We  amuse  ourselves  with  enquiries  into 
the  conduct  of  those  who  permitted  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga, 
nor  do  we  appear  to  have  an  idea  that  others  will,  in  their 
turn,  scrutinize  our  conduct  at  this  juncture — a  crisis  when 
we  know  that  the  enemy  have  collected  their  force,  and  are 
actually  advanced  against  the  main  battle  of  the  Americans ; 
where,  if  they  find  they  can  make  no  impression — and  we 
have  now  a  flattering  prospect  that  they  will  find  their  efforts 
abortive — it  is  but  reasonable  to  imagine  they  will  recoil  upon 
upon  our  post.  They  will  sail  faster  against,  than  aid  can 
be  marched  to  us.  Their  arrival  will  be  sudden — shall  they 
find  us  shamefully  occupied  in  the  amusements  and  business  of 
peace  ?  Why  has  the  Almighty  endowed  us  with  a  recollection 
of  events,  but  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  prepare  against 
dangers,  by  avoiding  the  errors  and  follies,  the  negligence 
and  supineness  by  which  others  have  been  ruined.  If  a  sense 
of  our  duty  to  our  country,  or  of  safety  to  posterity,  is  too 
weak  to  rouse  us  to  action,  if  the  noble  passions  of  the  mind 
have  not  force  to  elevate  us  to  glory — the  meaner  ones, 
perhaps,  may  drive  us  into  a  state  of  security.  The  miser, 
amidst  all  his  anxiety  to  add  to  his  heap,  is  yet  careful  to 
provide  a  strong  box  for  its  safety.  Shall  we  neglect  such 
an  example  of  prudence  ?  Pride  raised  Cassius'  dagger 
against  Caesar,  and  procured  for  him  the  glorious  title  of  the 
last  of  the  Romans.  We  were  the  first  in  America  who  pub- 
licly pronounced  Lord  North's  famous  conciliatory  motion 
inadmissible — we  raised  the  first  regular  forces  upon  the 
continent,  and  for  a  term  of  three  years — we  first  declared 
the  causes  of  taking  up  arms — we  originated  councils  of 
safety — we  were  among  the  first  who  led  the  way  to  Inde- 
pendence, by  establishing  a  constitution  of  government — we 
were  the  first  who  made  a  law  authorizing  the  capture  of 
British  vessels,  without  distinction — we  alone  have  defeated  a 
British  fleet — we  alone  have  victoriously  pierced  through,  and 
reduced  a  powerful  nation  of  Indians,  who,  urged  by  Britain, 
had  attacked  the  United  States.  But  such  brilliant  proceed- 
ings, unless  supported  with  propriety,  will  cover  us  with 
infamy.  They  will  appear  as  the  productions  of  faction, 
folly  and  temerity,  not  of  patriotism,  wisdom  and  valor. 
What  a  contrast !  how  humiliating  the  one — how  glorious 


288  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  other !  Will  not  pride  spur  us  on  to  add  to  the  catalogue? 
Will  you  not  strive  to  rival  the  vigor  of  the  North?  Do 
we  admire  the  great  names  of  antiquity  ?  Do  we  wish  for 
an  opportunity  to  be  equally  celebrated  by  posterity  ? 

Then  the  present — there  never  was  a  more  inviting  or 
certain  opportunity  of  acquiring  an  immortal  name.  A 
world  to  be  converted  into  an  Empire,  is  the  work  now  in 
hand — a  work  wherein  the  names  of  the  workmen  will  be 
engraved  in  indelible  characters.  Shall  we  not  exert  our- 
selves to  be  ranked  in  this  most  illustrious  list  ?  Nor  is  it 
so  difficult  a  thing  to  acquire  place  in  it  as  may  be  imagined ; 
it  is  in  every  man's  power  to  exert  himself  with  vigor  and 
constancy. 

My  dear  countrymen,  trifle  not  with  an  opportunity  unex- 
ampled, and  not  to  be  recalled — it  is  passing  with  rapidity. 
Let  us  put  our  hands  to  our  breasts,  and  examine  what  we 
have  done  in  forwarding  this  imperial  structure.  How  many 
must  say,  I  have  youth,  strength,  activity,  an  abundant  for- 
tune, learning,  sense — or  some  of  these  blessings  ;  but — 1 
have  shown  my  attachment  to  America,  only  by  a  moment- 
ary vigor,  to  mark  my  inconstancy — scrutinizing  the  conduct 
of  others — good  wishes — and  inquiring  the  news  of  the  day. 
Such  men  must  be  sensible  of  a  disgraceful  inferiority,  when 
they  hear  those  American  names,  which  the  trumpet  of  fame 
now  sounds  through  the  world — a  blast  that  will  reach  the 
ears  of  the  latest  posterity. 

Surely,  such  men  may  have  a  desire  to  be  relieved  from  so 
oppressive  a  sensation?  The  remedy  is  within  their  own 
power ;  and  if  they  will  use  it,  while  it  throws  off  their  dis- 
grace, it  will  operate  for  the  benefit  of  their  country.  Let 
them  inquire  of  the  President,  WHAT  SERVICE  THEY  CAN  REN- 
DER THE  STATE  ?  To  a  rich  planter  he  would  say,  if  you  will 
send  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  laborers  to  the  public  works,  and 
for  whom  you  shall  be  paid,  you  will  do  an  essential  service 
in  a  critical  time.  To  another,  if  you  will  diligently  over- 
look, and  push  on  the  construction  of  such  a  battery,  or  line, 
you  will  merit  the  thanks  of  your  fellow-citizens.  To  & 
third,  if  instead  of  hunting,  you  will  ride  about  your  neigh- 
borhood, or  a  little  beyond,  and  endeavor  to  instruct  .those 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  289 

who  are  ignorant,  of  the  importance  of  the  public  contest — 
reclaim  the  deluded — animate  the  timid — rouse  the  lan- 
guid— and  raise  a  spirit  of  emulation  as  to  who  shall  exert 
himself  most  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and  America,  you  will 
deserve  the  applause  of  the  continent.  How  many  opportu 
nities  are  there  for  a  man  to  distinguish  himself,  and  to  he 
beneficial  to  his  country ! 
25 


CHAPTER    XX 

The  Settlements  in  the  West — Biography  of  Boone,  by  Himself— Biogra- 
phy of  Simon  Kenton. 

Since  the  peace  with  the  Indians  on  the  western  frontier, 
various  projects  had  heen  started  for  settlements  heyond  the 
mountains.  In  a  treaty  held  at  Fort  Stanwix,  the  Six 
Nations,  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  £10,460,  had 
ceded  to  the  crown  all  the  country  south  of  the  Ohio,  as  far  as 
the  Cherokee  or  Tennessee  river.  So  much  of  this  region  as 
lay  south  of  the  Great  Kanawha  was  claimed,  however,  by 
the  Cherokees  as  a  part  of  their  hunting-grounds.  The 
banks  of  the  Kanawha,  or  New  river,  flowing  north  into  the 
Ohio,  across  the  foot  of  the  great  central  Allegheny  ridge, 
already  began  to  be  occupied  by  individual  settlers.  Appli- 
cation was  soon  made  to  the  British  government,  by  a  company 
— of  which  Franklin,  Sir  William  Johnson,  Walpole,  a 
wealthy  London  banker,  and  others,  were  members — for 
that  part  of  this  newly-ceded  territory  north  of  the  Kana- 
wha, and  thence  to  the  Upper  Ohio.  They  offered  to  refund 
the  whole  amount  paid  to  the  Indians,  and  proposed  to  estab- 
lish on  the  ceded  lands  a  new  and  separate  colony.  This  grant, 
though  opposed  by  Lord  Hillsborough,  was  finally  agreed 
to  by  the  ministry;  but  the  increasing  troubles  between 
the  colonies  and  the  mother  country  prevented  its  final 
completion.  Other  grants  solicited  and  ceded  north  of  the 
Ohio  were  defeated  by  the  same  cause.  Such  was  the  origin 
of  the  Walpole  or  Ohio  Company,  the  Vandalia  Company,  the 
Indiana  Company — founded  on  a  cession  said  to  have  been 
made  to  certain  traders  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix — and 
other  land  companies,  not  without  a  marked  influence  on  the 
290 


•» .  -#  I 


KEVOLUTIONABY  INCIDENTS.  291 

politics  of  a  future  period.  Even  the  distant  regions  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior  attracted  the  attention  of  some 
adventurous  speculators,  by  whom  attempts  were  made  to 
work  the  mines ;  hut  the  expenses  attendant  upon  so  remote 
an  undertaking,  caused  it  to  be  speedily  abandoned. 

The  first  settlement  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State 
of  Tennessee  was  made  hy  emigrants  from  North  Carolina, 
under  the  leadership  of  James  Robinson,  who  settled  on  the 
Wataga,  one  of  the  head  streams  of  the  Tennessee  river,  on 
lands  of  the  Cherokees,  from  whom,  however,  these  settlers 
presently  obtained  an  eight  years7  lease.  As  in  the  early 
settlements  of  New  England,  these  emigrants  organized 
themselves  into  a  body  politic.  A  code  of  laws  was  assented 
to,  and  signed  by  each  individual  of  the  colony.  Others  who 
joined  them  soon  extended  the  settlement  down  the  Valley 
of  the  Houlston,  and,  crossing  the  intervening  ridges,  occu- 
pied the  banks  of  the  Nolichucky  and  Clinch  rivers,  while 
others  yet  passed  into  Powell's  Valley,  the  south-western 
corner  of  the  present  State  of  Virginia. 

John  Firiley,  an  Indian  trader,  returning  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  the  still  more  distant  regions  beyond  the  western- 
(most  mountains,  brought  back  glowing  accounts  of  that  fertile 
country.  He  persuaded  Daniel  Boone,  a  native  of  Maryland, 
and  four  other  settlers  on  the  Yadkin,  to  go  with  him  to 
explore  it.  Having  reached  the  head  waters  of  the  Ken- 
tucky, these  adventurers  saw  from  the  hills  fertile  plains 
stretching  toward  the  Ohio,  covered  with  magnificent  forests, 
ranged  over  by  numerous  herds  of  buffalo,  and  abounding 
with  other  game.  They  had  several  encounters  with  Indians. 
But  we  furnish  here  an  account  of  Boone's  own  life,  taken 
down  from  his  own  lips,  by  a  cotemporary : 

ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  DANIEL  BOONE. 

Comprising  an  Account  of  the  Wars  with  the  Indians  on  the 
Ohio,  from  1769  to  1782. 

WRITTEN   BY   HIMSELF. 

It  was  on  the  1st  of  May,  1769,  that  I  resigned  my 
domestic  happiness,  and  left  my  family  and  peaceable  habi- 
tation on  the  Yadkin  river,  in  North  Carolina,  to  wander 
through  the  wilderness  of  America,  in  quest  of  the  country 


292  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  Kentucky,  in  company  with  John  Finley,  John  Stuart, 
Joseph  Holden,  James  Monay,  and  William  Cool. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  after  travelling  in  a  western  direction, 
we  found  ourselves  on  Red  river,  where  John  Finley  had  for- 
merly been  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  from  the  top  of  an 
eminence  saw  with  pleasure  the  beautiful  level  of  Kentucky. 
For  some  time  we  had  experienced  the  most  uncomfortable 
weather.  We  now  encamped,  made  a  shelter  to  defend  us 
from  the  inclement  season,  and  began  to  hunt,  and  reconnoiter 
the  country.  We  found  abundance  of  wild  beasts  in  this  vast 
forest.  The  buffaloes  were  more  numerous  than  cattle  in 
the  settlements,  browsing  on  the  leaves  of  the  cane,  or 
cropping  the  herbage  on  these  extensive  plains.  We  saw 
hundreds  in  a  drove,  and  the  numbers  about  the  salt-springs 
were  amazing.  In  this  forest,  the  habitation  of  beasts  of 
every  American  kind,  we  hunted  with  great  success  until 
December. 

On  the  22d  of  December,  John  Stuart  and  I  had  a  pleas- 
ing ramble ;  but  fortune  changed  the  day  at  the  close  of  it. 
We  passed  through  a  great  forest,  in  which  stood  myriads  of 
trees,  some  gay  with  blossoms,  others  rich  with  fruits. 
Nature  was  here  a  series  of  wonders  and  a  fund  of  delight. 
Here  she  displayed  her  ingenuity  and  industry  in  a  variety 
of  flowers  and  fruits,  beautifully  colored,  elegantly  shaped, 
and  charmingly  flavored ;  and  we  were  favored  with  number- 
less animals  presenting  themselves  perpetually  to  our  view. 
In  the  decline  of  the  day,  near  Kentucky  river,  as  we 
ascended  the  brow  of  a  small  hill,  a  number  of  Indians 
rushed  out  of  a  canebreak  and  made  us  prisoners.  The 
Indians  plundered  us,  and  kept  us  in  confinement  seven  days. 
During  this  time,  we  discovered  no  uneasiness  or  desire  to 
escape,  which  made  them  less  suspicious ;  but  in  the  dead  of 
night,  as  we  lay  by  a  large  fire  in  a  thick  canebrake,  when 
sleep  had  locked  up  their  senses,  my  situation  not  disposing 
me  to  rest,  I  gently  awoke  my  companion.  We  seized  this 
favorable  opportunity  and  departed,  directing  our  course 
toward  the  old  camp,  but  found  it  plundered,  and  our  com- 
pany destroyed  cr  dispersed. 

About  this  time,  my  brother  with  another  adventurer,  who 
came  tc  explore  the  country  shortly  after  us,  were  wandering 
through  the  forest,  and  accidentally  came  upon  our  cainp. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  293 

Notwithstanding  our  unfortunate  circumstances,  and  our  dan-  ' 
gerous  situation,  surrounded  with  hostile  savages,  our  meeting 
fortunately  in   the  wilderness   gave  us   the  most  sensible 
satisfaction. 

Soon  after  this  my  companion  in  captivity,  John  Stuart, 
was  killed  by  the  savages,  and  the  man  who  came  with  my 
brother,  while  on  a  private  excursion  was  soon  after  attacked 
and  killed  by  the  wolves.  We  were  now  in  a  dangerous 
and  helpless  situation,  exposed  daily  to  perils  and  death, 
among  savages  and  wild  beasts,  not  a  white  man  in  the 
country  but  ourselves. 

Although  many  hundred  miles  from  our  families,  in  the 
howling  wilderness,  we  did  not  continue  in  a  state  of  indolence, 
but  hunted  every  day,  and  prepared  a  little  cottage  to  defend 
us  from  the  winter.  On  the  1st  of  May,  1770,  my  brother 
returned  home  for  a  new  recruit  of  horses  and  ammunition, 
leaving  me  alone,  without  bread,  salt,  or  sugar,  or  even  a 
horse  or  a  dog.  I  passed  a  few  days  uncomfortably.  The 
idea  of  a  beloved  wife  and  family,  and  their  anxiety  on  my 
account,  would  have  disposed  me  to  melancholy  if  I  had  fur  • 
ther  indulged  the  thought. 

One  day  I  undertook  a  tour  through  the  country,  when  the 
diversities  and  beauties  of  nature  I  met  with  in  this  charming 
season  expelled  every  gloomy  thought.  Just  at  the  close  of 
the  day,  the  gentle  gales  ceased ;  a  profound  calm  ensued ;  not 
a  breath  shook  the  tremulous  leaf.  I  had  gained  the  summit 
of  a  commanding  ridge,  and  looking  around  with  astonishing 
delight,  beheld  the  ample  plains  and  beauteous  tracts  below. 
On  one  hand,  I  surveyed  the  famous  Ohio  rolling  in  silent 
dignity,  and  marking  the  western  boundary  of  Kentucky 
with  inconceivable  grandeur.  At  a  vast  distance,  I  beheld 
the  mountains  lift  their  venerable  brows  and  penetrate  vhe 
clouds.  All  things  were  still.  I  kindled  a  fire  near  a  fountain 
of  sweet  water,  and  feasted  on  the  loin  of  a  buck  which  I  had 
killed  a  few  hours  before.  The  shades  of  night  soon  over- 
spread the  hemisphere,  and  the  earth  seemed  to  gasp  after 
the  hovering  moisture.  At  a  distance  I  frequently  heard  the 
hideous  yells  of  savages.  My  excursion  had  fatigued  my 
body  and  amused  my  mind.  I  laid  me  down  to  sleep,  and 
awoke  not  until  the  sun  had  chased  away  the  night.  I  con- 
t  nued  this  tour,  and  in  a  few  days  explored  a  considerable 
25* 


294  HISTORICAL  AND 

part  of  the  country,  each  day  equally  pleasing  as  the  first ; 
after  which  I  returned  to  my  old  camp,  which  had  not  heen 
disturbed  in  my  ahsence.  I  could  not  confine  my  lodging  to 
it,  but  often  reposed  in  thick  canebrakes  to  avoid  the  savages, 
who  I  believe  frequently  visited  my  camp,  but,  fortunately 
for  me,  in  my  absence.  No  populous  city,  with  all  its  varie- 
ties of  commerce  and  stately  structures,  could  afford  such 
pleasure  to  my  mind,  as  the  beauties  of  nature  I  found  in 
this  country. 

Until  the  27th  of  July,  I  spent  my  time  in  an  uninter- 
rupted scene  of  sylvan  pleasures,  when  my  brother,  to  my 
great  felicity,  met  me  according  to  appointment,  at  our  old 
camp.  Soon  after,  we  left  the  place,  and  proceeded  to  Cum- 
berland river,  reconnoitering  that  part  of  the  country,  and 
giving  names  to  the  different  rivers. 

In  March,  1771,  I  returned  home  to  my  family,  being 
determined  to  bring  them  as  soon  as  possible,  at  the  risk  of 
my  life  and  fortune,  to  reside  in  Kentucky,  which  I  esteemed 
a  second  Paradise. 

On  my  return,  I  found  my  family  in  happy  circumstances. 
I  sold  my  farm  on  the  Yadkin,  and  what  goods  we  could  not 
carry  with  us,  and  on  the  25th  of  September,  1773,  we  took 
leave  of  our  friends  and  proceeded  on  our  journey  to  Ken- 
tucky, in  company  with  five  more  families,  and  forty  men 
that  joined  us  in  Powell's  Valley,  which  is  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  the  new  settled  parts  of  Kentucky.  But 
this  promising  beginning  was  soon  overcast  with  a  cloud  of 
adversity. 

On  the  10th  of  October  the  rear  of  our  company  was 
attacked  by  a  party  of  Indians,  who  killed  six,  and  wounded 
one  man.  Of  these  my  oldest  son  was  one  that  fell  in  the 
action.  Though  we  repulsed  the  enemy,  yet  this  unhappy 
affair  scattered  our  cattle  and  brought  us  into  extreme  diffi- 
culty. We  returned  forty  miles,  to  the  settlement  on  Clench 
river.  We  had  passed  over  two  mountains,  Powell  and  Wai- 
den's,  and  were  approaching  Cumberland  mountain,  when  this 
adverse  fortune  overtook  us.  These  mountains  are  in  the 
wilderness,  in  passing  from  the  old  settlement  in  Virginia  to 
Kentucky ;  they  range  in  a  southwest  and  northeast  direc- 
tion ;  are  of  great  length  and  breadth,  and  not  far  distant 
from  each  other.  Over  them  Nature  has  formed  passes  less 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  295 

difficult  than  might  be  expected  from  the  view  of  such  huge 
piles.  The  aspect  of  these  cliffs  is  so  wild  and  horrid,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  behold  them  without  horror. 

Until  the  6th  of  June,  1774,  I  remained  with  my  family 
on  the  Clench,  when  myself  and  another  person  were  solicited 
by  Governor  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  to  conduct  a  number  of 
surveyors  to  the  falls  of  Ohio.  This  was  a  tour  of  eight 
hundred  miles,  and  took  sixty-two  days. 

On  my  return,  G-ov.  Dunmore  gave  me  the  command  of 
three  garrisons  during  the  campaign  against  the  Shawnese. 
In  March,  1765,  at  the  solicitation  of  a  number  of  gentle- 
men of  North  Carolina,  I  attended  their  treaty  at  Wataga 
with  the  Cherokee  Indians,  to  purchase  the  lands  on  the 
south  side  of  Kentucky  river.  After  this,  I  undertook  to 
mark  out  a  road  in  the  best  passage  from  the  settlements 
through  the  wilderness  to  Kentucky. 

Having  collected  a  number  of  enterprising  men,  well 
armed,  I  soon  began  this  work.  We  proceeded  until  we  came 
within  fifteen  miles  of  where  Boonsborough  now  stands,  where 
the  Indians  attacked  us,  and  killed  two,  and  wounded  two 
more  of  our  party.  This  was  on  the  22d  of  March,  1775. 
Two  days  after  we  were  again  attacked  by  them,  when  we 
had  two  more  killed,  and  three  wounded.  After  this,  we 
proceeded  on  to  Kentucky  river  without  opposition. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  we  began  to  erect  the  fort  of  Boons- 
borough,  at  a  salt  lick  sixty  yards  from  the  river,  on  the 
south  side.  On  the  4th  the  Indians  killed  one  of  our  men. 
On  the  14th  of  June,  having  completed  the  fort,  I  returned 
to  my  family  on  the  Clench,  and  whom  I  soon  afterward 
removed  to  the  fort.  My  wife  and  daughter  were  supposed 
to  be  the  first  white  women  that  ever  stood  on  the  banks  of 
Kentucky  river. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  the  Indians  killed  one  of  our 
men,  and  wounded  another;  and  on  the  15th  of  July,  1776, 
they  took  my  daughter  prisoner.  I  immediately  pursued 
them  with  eight  men,  and  on  the  16th  overtook  and  engaged 
them.  1  killed  two  of  them  and  recovered  my  daughter. 

The  Indians,  having  divided  themselves  into  several  par- 
ties, attacked  in  one  day  all  our  infant  settlements  and  forts, 
doing  a  great  deal  of  damage.  The  husbandmen  were 
ambushed  and  unexpectedly  attacked  while  toiling  in  the 


296  HISTORICAL  AND 

field.  They  continued  this  kind  of  warfare  until  the  15th 
of  AprU,  1777,  when  nearly  one  hundred  of  them  attacked 
the  village  of  Boonsborough,  and  killed  a  number  of  its 
inhabitants.  On  the  16th  Colonel  Logan's  fort  was  attacked 
by  two  hundred  Indians.  There  were  only  thirteen  men  in 
the  fort,  of  whom  the  enemy  killed  two,  and  wounded  one. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  Colonel  Bowman  arrived  with  one 
hundred  men  from  Virginia,  with  which  additional  force  we 
had  almost  daily  skirmishes  with  the  Indians,  who  began  now 
to  learn  the  superiority  of  the  "  long  knife,"  as  they  termed 
the  Virginians  ;  being  out-generalled  in  almost  every  action. 
Our  affairs  began  now  to  wear  a  better  aspect ;  the  Indians 
no  longer  daring  to  face  us  in  open  field,  but  sought  private 
opportunities  to  destroy  us. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1778,  while  on  a  hunting  excur- 
sion alone,  I  met  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  two  Indians, 
and  two  Frenchmen,  marching  to  attack  Boonsborough.  They 
pursued  and  took  me  prisoner,  and  conveyed  me  to  Old  Chili- 
cothe,  the  principal  Indian  town  on  Little  Miami,  where  we 
arrived  on  the  18th  of  February,  after  an  uncomfortable 
journey.  On  the  10th  of  March  I  was  conducted  to  Detroit, 
and  while  there,  was  treated  with  great  humanity  by  Gov. 
Hamilton,  the  British  commmander  at  that  port,  and 
Intendant  for  Indian  affairs. 

The  Indians  had  such  an  affection  for  me,  that  they  refused 
one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  offered  them  by  the  Governor, 
if  they  would  consent  to  leave  me  with  him,  that  he  might 
be  enabled  to  liberate  me  on  my  parole.  Several  English 
gentlemen  then  at  Detroit,  sensible  of  my  adverse  fortune, 
and  touched  with  sympathy,  generously  offered  to  supply  my 
wants,  which  I  declined  with  many  thanks,  adding  that  I 
never  expected  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  recompense  such 
unmerited  generosity. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  the  Indians  returned  with  me  to 
Old  Chilicothe,  where  we  arrived  on  the  25th.  This  wa8  a 
long  and  fatiguing  march,  although  through  an  exceeding 
fertile  country,  remarkable  for  springs  and  streams  of  water. 
At  Chilicothe  I  spent  my  time  as  comfortably  as  I  could 
expect ;  was  adopted,  according  to  their  custom,  into  a  family 
where  I  became  a  son,  and  had  a  great  share  in  the  affection  of 
my  new  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  and  friends.  I  was  exceed- 


^REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.       297 

ingly  familiar  and  friendly  with  them,  always  appearing  as 
cheerful  and  contented  as  possible,  and  they  put  great  confi- 
dence in  me.  I  often  went  a  hunting  with  them,  and  fre- 
quently gained  the  applause  for  my  activity  at  our  shooting 
matches.  I  was  careful  not  to  exceed  many  of  them  in  shoot- 
ing, for  no  people  are  more  envious  than  they  in  this  sport.  I 
could  observe  in  their  countenances  and  gestures  the  great- 
est expressions  of  joy  when  they  exceeded  me,  and  when  the 
reverse  happened,  of  envy.  The  Shawanese  king  took  great 
notice  of  me,  and  treated  me  with  profound  respect,  and 
entire  friendship,  often  intrusting  me  to  hunt  at  my  liberty. 
I  frequently  returned  with  the  spoils  of  the  woods,  and  as 
often  presented  some  of  what  I  had  taken  to  him,  expressive 
of  duty  to  my  sovereign.  My  food  and  lodging  were  in  com- 
mon with  them ;  not  so  good,  indeed,  as  I  could  desire,  but 
necessity  made  everything  acceptable. 

I  now  began  to  meditate  an  escape,  and  carefully  avoided 
giving  suspicion.  I  continued  at  Chilicothe  until  the  1st 
day  of  June,  when  I  was  taken  to  the  salt  springs  on  Sciotha, 
and  there  employed  ten  days  in  the  manufacturing  of  salt. 
During  this  time,  I  hunted  with  my  Indian  masters,  and 
found  the  land,  for  a  great  extent  about  this  river,  to  exceed 
the  soil  of  Kentucky. 

On  my  return  to  Chilicothe,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
choicest  Indian  warriors  were  ready  to  march  against  Boons- 
borough.  They  were  painted  and  armed  in  a  frightful  man- 
ner. This  alarmed  me,  and  I  determined  to  escape.  ^ 

On  the  26th  of  June,  before  sunrise,  I  went  off  sSetly, 
and  reached  Boonsborough  on  the  30th,  a  journey  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  miles,  during  which  I  had  only  one  meal. 
I  found  our  fortress  in  a  bad  state,  but  we  immediately 
repaired  our  flanks,  gates,  posterns,  and  formed  double  bas- 
tions, which  we  completed  in  ten  days.  One  of  my  fellow- 
prisoners  escaped  after  me,  and  brought  advice,  that  on 
account  of  my  flight,  the  Indians  had  put  off  their  expedition 
for  three  weeks. 

About  the  1st  of  August,  I  set  out  with  nineteen  men,  to 
surprise  Point  Creek-town,  on  Sciotha,  within  four  miles  of 
which  we  fell  in  with  forty  Indians  going  against  Boons- 
borough.  We  attacked  them,  and  they  soon  gave  way,  with- 
out any  loss  on  our  part. 


298  HISTORICAL  AND 

The  enemy  had  one  killed  and  two  wounded.  We  took 
three  horses  and  all  their  baggage.  The  Indians  having 
evacuated  their  town,  and  gone  altogether  against  Boons- 
borough,  we  returned,  passed  them  on  the  6th,  and  on  the 
7th,  arrived  safe  at  Boonsborough. 

On  the  9th,  the  Indian  army,  consisting  of  four  hundred 
and  forty-four  men,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Duquesne, 
and  eleven  other  Frenchmen,  and  their  chiefs,  arrived  and 
summoned  the  fort  to  surrender.  I  requested  two  days' 
consideration,  which  was  granted.  During  this  we  brought 
in  through  the  posterns  all  the  horses  and  other  cattle  we 
could  collect. 

On  the  9th,  in  the  evening,  I  informed  their  commander, 
that  we  were  determined  to  defend  the  fort  while  a  man  was 
living.  They  then  proposed  a  treaty :  they  would  withdraw. 
The  treaty  was  held  within  sixty  yards  of  the  fort,  as  we 
suspected  the  savages.  The  articles  were  agreed  to  and 
signed,  when  the  Indians  told  us,  as  it  was  their  custom  for 
two  Indians  to  shake  hands  with  every  white  man  in  the 
treaty,  as  an  evidence  of  friendship.  We  agreed  to  this 
also.  They  immediately  grappled  us  to  take  us  prisoners, 
but  we  cleared  ourselves  of  them,  though  surrounded  by 
hundreds,  and  gained  the  fort  safe,  except  one  man,  who  was 
wounded  by  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy. 

The  savages  now  began  to  undermine  the  fort,  beginning 
at  the  watermark  of  Kentucky  river,  which  is  sixty  yards 
from  the  fort ;  this  we  discovered  by  the  water  being  made 
muddy  by  the  clay.  We  countermined  them  by  cutting  a 
trench  across  their  subterraneous  passage.  The  enemy  dis- 
covering this  by  the  clay  we  threw  out  of  the  fort,  desisted. 
On  the  20th  of  August,  they  raised  the  siege,  during  which 
we  had  two  men  killed,  and  four  wounded.  We  lost  a  num- 
ber of  cattle.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  thirty-seven 
killed,  and  a  much  larger  number  wounded.  We  picked  up 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  of  their  bullets,  beside 
what  stuck  in  the  logs  of  the  fort. 

In  July,  1779,  during  my  absence,  Colonel  Bowman,  with 
one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  went  against  the  Shawanese  of 
Old  Chilicothe.  He  arrived  undiscovered.  A  battle  ensued, 
which  lasted  until  ten  in  the  morning,  when  Colonel  Bow 
man  retreated  thirty  miles.  The  Indians  collected  all  then 


[REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  299 

strength  and  pursued  him,  when  another  engagement  ensued 
for  two  hours,  not  to  Colonel  Bowman's  advantage.  Colonel 
Harrod  proposed  to  mount  a  number  of  horses,  and  break 
the  enemy's  line,  who  at  this  time  fought  with  remarkable 
fury.  This  desperate  measure  had  a  happy  effect,  and  the 
savages  fled  on  all  sides.  In  these  two  engagements  we  had 
nine  men  killed  and  one  wounded.  Enemy's  loss  uncertain. 
Only  two  scalps  were  taken. 

June  23d,  1780,  five  hundred  Indians  and  Canadians  under 
Colonel  Bird,  attacked  Eiddle  and  Martain's  station,  and  the 
forks  of  Licking  Eiver,  with  six  pieces  of  artillery.  They 
took  all  the  inhabitants  captive,  and  killed  one  man  and  two 
women,  loading  the  others  with  the  heavy  baggage,  and  such 
as  failed  in  the  journey  were  tomahawked. 

The  hostile  disposition  of  the  savages  caused  General 
Clarke,  the  commandant  at  the  falls  of  Ohio,  to  march  with 
his  regiment  and  the  armed  force  of  the  country  against 
Peccaway,  the  principal  town  of  the  Shawanese,  on  a  branch 
the  Great  Miami,  which  he  attacked  with  great  success,  took 
seventy  scalps,  and  reduced  the  town  to  ashes,  with  the  loss 
of  seventeen  men. 

About  this  time,  I  returned  to  Kentucky  with  my  family ; 
for  during  my  captivity,  my  wife,  thinking  me  killed  by  the 
Indians,  had  transported  my  family  and  goods,  on  horses, 
through  the  wilderness,  amidst  great  dangers,  to  her  father's 
house  in  North  Carolina. 

On  the  6th  of  October,  1780,  soon  after  my  settling  again 
at  Boonesborough,  I  went  with  my  brother  to  the  Blue  Licks, 
and  on  our  return,  he  was  shot  by  a  party  of  Indians,  who 
followed  me  by  the  scent  of  a  dog,  which  I  shot  and  escaped. 
The  severity  of  the  winter  caused  great  distress  in  Kentucky, 
the  .enemy,  during  the  summer,  having  destroyed  most  of 
the  corn.  The  inhabitants  lived  chiefly  on  buffalo's  flesh. 

In  the  spring  of  1702,  the  Indians  harassed  us.  In  May, 
they  ravished,  killed,  and  scalped  a  woman  and  her  two 
daughters,  near  Ashton's  station,  and  took  a  negro  prisoner. 
Captain  Ash  ton  pursued  them  with  twenty-five  men,  and  in 
an  engagement  which  lasted  two  hours,  his  party  were 
obliged  to  retreat,  having  eight  killed,  and  four  mortally 
wounded.  Their  brave  commander  fell  in  the  action. 

On  August  18th,  two  boys  were  carried  off  from  Major 


300  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

Hoy's  station.  Captain  Holder  pursued  the  enemy  with 
seventeen  men,  who  were  also  defeated,  with  the  loss  of 
seven  killed  and  two  wounded.  Our  affairs  became  more 
and  more  alarming.  The  savages  infested  the  country,  and 
destroyed  the  whites  as  opportunity  presented.  In  a  field 
near  Lexington,  an  Indian  shot  a  man,  and  running  to 
scalp  him,  was  himself  shot  from  the  fort,  and  fell  dead 
upon  the  ground.  All  the  Indian  nations  were  now  united 
against  us. 

On  August  15th,  five  hundred  Indians  and  Canadians  carne 
against  Briat's  station,  five  miles  from  Lexington.  They 
assaulted  the  fort,  and  killed  all  the  cattle  round  it ;  but 
being  repulsed,  they  retired  the  third  day,  having  about 
eighty  killed  ;  their  wounded  uncertain.  The  garrison  had 
four  killed,  and  nine  wounded. 

On  August  10th,  Colonels  Todd  andTrigg,  Major  Harland 
and  myself,  speedily  collected  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
men,  well-armed,  and  pursued  the  savages.  They  had 
marched  beyond  the  Blue  Licks,  to  a  remarkable  bend  of  the 
main  fork  of  the  Licking  Kiver,  about  forty-three  miles 
from  Lexington,  where  we  overtook  them  on  the  19th. 
The  savages  observing  us,  gave  way,  and  we,  ignorant  of 
their  numbers,  passed  the  river.  When  they  saw  our  pro- 
ceedings, having  greatly  the  advantage  in  situation,  they 
formed  their  line  of  battle  from  one  end  of  the  Licking  to 
the  other,  about  a  mile  from  the  Blue  Licks.  The  engage- 
ment was  close  and  warm  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  when  we, 
being  overpowered  by  numbers,  were  obliged  to  retreat,  with 
a  loss  of  sixty-seven  men,  seven  of  whom  were  taken  prison- 
ers. The  brave  and  much  lamented  colonels,  Todd  and 
Trigg,  Major  Harland,  and  my  second  son,  were  among  the 
dead.  We  were  afterward  informed  that  the  Indians,  on 
numbering  their  dead,  finding  that  they  had  four  more 
killed  than  we,  four  of  our  people  they  had  taken,  wore 
given  up  to  their  young  warriors,  to  be  put  to  death  after 
their  barbarous  manner. 

On  our  retreat,  we  were  met  by  Colonel  Logan,  who  was 
hastening  to  join  us  with  a  number  of  well-armed  men. 
This  powerful  assistance  we  wanted  on  the  day  of  the  battle. 
The  enemy  said,  one  more  fire  from  us  would  have  made 
them  give  way. 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  301 

I  can  not  reflect  upon  this  dreadful  scene,  without  great 
sorrow.  A  zeal  for  the  defense  of  their  country,  led  these 
heroes  to  the  scene  of  action,  though  with  few  men,  to  attack 
a  powerful  array  of  experienced  warriors.  When  we  gave 
way,  they  pursued  us  with  the  utmost  eagerness,  and  in 
every  quarter  spread  destruction.  The  river  was  difficult  to 
cross,  and  many  were  killed  in  the  fight,  some  just  entering 
the  river,  some  in  the  water,  others  after  crossing,  in  ascend- 
ing the  cliffs.  Some  escaped  on  horseback,  a  few  on  foot ; 
and  being  dispersed  everywhere,  in  a  few  hours  brought  the 
melancholy  news  of  this  unfortunate  battle  to  Lexington. 
Many  widows  were  now  made.  The  reader  may  guess  what 
sorrow  filled  the  hearts  of  the  inhabitants,  exceeding  any 
thing  that  I  am  able  to  describe.  Being  reinforced,  we 
returned  to  bury  the  dead,  and  found  their  bodies  strewed 
everywhere,  cut  and  mangled  in  a  dreadful  manner.  This 
mournful  scene  exhibited  a  horror  almost  unparalleled ;  some 
torn  and  eaten  by  wild  beasts ;  those  in  the  river  by  fishes ; 
all  in  such  a  putrid  condition  that  one  could  not  be  distin- 
guished from  another. 

When  General  Clarke,  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  heard  of  our 
disaster,  he  ordered  an  expedition  to  pursue  the  savages. 
We  overtook  them  within  two  miles  of  their  town,  and  we 
should  have  obtained  a  great  victory,  had  riot  some  of  them 
met  us  when  about  two  hundred  poles  from  their  camp.  The 
savages  fled  in  the  utmost  disorder,  and  evacuated  all  their 
towns.  We  burned  to  ashes  Old  Chilicothe,  Peccaway,  New 
Chilicothe,  and  Willstown  ;  entirely  destroyed  their  corn  and 
other  fruits,  and  spread  desolation  through  their  country. 
We  took  seven  prisoners  and  fifteen  scalps,  and  lost  only 
four  men,  two  of  whom  were  accidentally  killed  by  ourselves. 
This  campaign  damped  the  enemy,  yet  they  made  secret 
incursions. 

In  October,  a  party  attacked  Crab  Orchard,  and  one  of 
them,  being  a  good  way  before  the  others,  boldly  entered  a 
house,  in  which  were  only  a  woman  and  her  children,  and  a 
negro  man.  The  savage  used  no  violence,  but  attempted  to 
carry  off  the  negro,  who  happily  proved  too  strong  for  him, 
and  threw  him  on  the  ground,  and  in  the  struggle,  the  woman 
cut  off  his  head  with  an  ax,  while  her  little  daughter  shut 
the  door.  The  savages  instantly  came  up,  and  applied  their 
26 


302  HISTORICAL  AND 

tomahawks  to  the  door,  when  the  mother  putting  an  old 
rusty  gun  barrel  through  the  crevice,  the  savages  immedi- 
ately went  off. 

From  that  time  till  the  happy  return  of  peace  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  Indians  did  us  no 
mischief.  Soon  after  this,  the  Indians  desired  peace. 

Two  darling  sons  and  a  brother,  I  have  lost  by  savage 
hands,  which  have  also  taken  from  me  forty  valuable  horses, 
and  abundance  of  cattle.  Many  dark  and  sleepless  nights 
have  I  spent,  separated  from  the  cheerful  society  of  men, 
scorched  by  the  summer's  sun,  and  pinched  by  the  winter's 
cold,  an  instrument  ordained  to  settle  the  wilderness. 

DANIEL  BOONE. 

Fayette  County,  Kentucky. 

We  will,  while  upon  this  subject,  furnish  also  a  biographi- 
cal sketch  of  Simon  Kenton,  the  heroic  cotemporary  of  Daniel 
Boone,  and  which  is  attributed  to  his  own  rude  pen.  Taking 
the  two  sketches  together,  they  comprise  a  graphic  sum- 
mary of  Indian  history  in  the  West,  at  this  period  of  the 
life  of  "  Sam." 

Simon  Kenton  was  a  Virginian  by  birth,  and  emigrated  to 
the  wilds  of  the  West  in  the  year  1771.  He  was  born, 
(according  to  a  manuscript  which  he  dictated  to  a  gentleman 
of  Kentucky,  several  years  since,)  in  Fauquier  county,  on 
the  15th  of  May,  1755,  of  poor  parents.  His  early  life  was 
passed  principally  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  having 
a  quarrel  with  a  rival  in  a  love-affair,  he  left  his  antagonist 
upon  the  ground  for  dead,  and  made  quick  steps  for  the  wil- 
derness. In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  wandering  to  and  fro, 
he  arrived  at  a  small  settlement  on  Cheat  Creek,  one  of  the 
forks  of  the  Monongahela,  where  he  called  himself  Butler. 
Here,  according  to  Mr.  M'Clung,  whose  interesting  account 
of  Kenton,  in  the  "  Sketches  of  Western  Adventure,"  we  are 
following,  he  attached  himself  to  a  small  company  headed 
by  John  Mali  on  and  Jacob  Greathouse,  which  was  about  start- 
ing farther  west,  on  an  exploring  expedition.  He  was  soon 
induced,  however,  by  a  young  adventurer  of  the  name  of 
Yager,  who  had  been  taken  by  the  western  Indians  when  a 
child,  and  spent  many  years  among  them,  to  detach  himself 
from  the  company,  and  go  with  him  to  a  land  which  the 


KEVOLUTIONAEY  INCIDENTS.  303 

Indians  called  Kan-tuc-kee,  and  which  he  represented  as 
being  a  perfect  elysium.  Accompanied  by  another  young 
man,  named  Strader,  they  set  off  for  the  backwoods  paradise 
in  high  spirits  :  Keiiton  not  doubting  that  he  should  find  a 
country  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  where  he  would  have 
little  to  do  but  to  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry.  Such,  however, 
was  not  his  luck.  They  continued  wandering  through  the 
wilderness  for  some  weeks,  without  finding  the  "  promised 
land,"  and  then  retraced  their  steps,  and  successively  ex- 
plored the  land  about  Salt-Lick,  Little  and  Big  Sandy,  and 
Guyandotte.  At  length,  being  totally  wearied  out,  they 
turned  their  attention  entirely  to  hunting  and  trapping,  and 
thus  spent  nearly  two  years.  Being  discovered  by  the  Indians, 
and  losing  one  of  his  companions,  (S'.rader,)  Ken  ton  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  his  trapping-waters,  and  hunting-grounds. 
After  divers  hardships,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Kenhawa,  with  his  remaining  companion,  where 
he  found  and  attached  himself  to  another  exploring  party. 
This,  however,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  soon  after  com- 
mencing the  descent  of  the  Ohio,  compelled  to  abandon  its 
canoes,  and  strike  diagonally  through  the  woods  for  Green- 
briar  county.  Its  members  suffered  much  in  accomplishing 
this  journey,  from  fatigue,  sickness  and  famine;  and  on 
reaching  the  settlements,  separated. 

Ken  ton's  rival  of  the  love-affair  had  long  since  recovered 
from  the  castigation  which  he  had  given  him.  But  of  this, 
the  young  hero  had  not  heard.  He  therefore  did  not  think 
proper  to  venture  home  ;  but,  instead,  built  a  canoe  on  the 
Monongahela,  and  once  more  sought  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Kenhawa,  where  he  hunted  till  the  spring  of  1774.  This 
year,  he  descended  the  Ohio  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Big  Bone 
creek,  and  was  engaged  in  various  explorations  till  1778, 
when  he  joined  Daniel  Boone  in  his  expedition  against  the 
Indian  town  on  Paint  creek.  Immediately  on  his  return 
from  this,  he  was  despatched  by  Colonel  Bowman,  with  two 
companions,  to  make  observations  upon  the  Indian  towns  on 
Little  Miami,  against  which  the  colonel  meditated  an  expedi- 
tion. He  reached  the  towns  in  safety,  and  made  the  neces- 
sary surveys  without  being  observed  by  the  Indians;  and  the 
expedition  might  have  terminated  much  to  his  credit,  and 
been  very  useful  tc  the  settlers  in  Kentucky,  had  he  not, 


304:  HISTORICAL  AND 

before  leaving  the  towns,  stolen  a  number  of  the  Indians' 
horses.  The  animals  were  missed  early  on  the  following 
morning,  the  trail  of  the  marauders  was  discovered,  and 
pursuit  instantly  commenced.  Kenton  and  his  companions 
soon  heard  cries  in  their  rear,  knew  that  they  had  been  dis- 
covered, and  saw  the  necessity  of  riding  for  their  lives. 
They  therefore  dashed  through  the  woods  at  a  furious  rate, 
with  the  hue  and  cry  after  them,  until  their  course  was 
suddenly  interrupted  by  an  impenetrable  swamp.  Here  they 
from  necessity,  paused  for  a  few  moments,  and  listened  atten- 
tively. Hearing  no  sounds  of  pursuit,  they  resumed  their 
course — and  skirting  the  swamp  for  some  distance,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  crossing  it,  they  dashed  off  in  a  straight  line 
for  the  Ohio.  They  continued  their  furious  speed  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  halting  but  once  or  twice  for  a  few  minutes  to 
take  some  refreshment,  and  reached  the  Ohio  in  safety. 
The  river  was  high  and  rough,  and  they  found  it  impossible 
to  urge  the  jaded  horses  over.  Various  efforts  were  made, 
but  all  failed.  Kenton  was  never  remarkable  for  prudence ; 
and  on  this  occasion,  his  better  reason  seems  to  have  deserted 
him  entirely.  By  abandoning  the  animals,  he  might  yet 
have  escaped,  though  several  hours  had  been  lost  in  en- 
deavoring to  get  them  over.  But  this  he  could  not  make 
up  his  mind  to  do.  He  therefore  called  a  council,  when  it 
was  determined,  as  they  felt  satisfied  they  must  be  some 
twelve  hours  in  advance  of  their  pursuers,  that  they  should 
conceal  their  horses  in  a  neighboring  ravine,  and  themselves 
take  stations  in  an  adjoining  wood,  in  the  hope  that  by  sun- 
set, the  high  wind  would  abate,  and  the  state  of  the  river 
be  such  as  to  permit  their  crossing  with  the  booty.  At  the 
hour  waited  for,  however,  the  wind  was  higher,  and  the 
water  rougher  than  ever.  Still,  as  if  completely  infatuated, 
they  remained  in  their  dangerous  position  through  the  night. 
The  next  morning  was  mild,  the  Indians  had  not  yet  been 
heard  in  pursuit,  and  Kenton  again  urged  the  horses  over. 
But,  recollecting  the  difficulties  of  the  preceding  day,  the 
affrighted  animals  could  not  now  be  induced  to  enter  the 
water  at  all.  Each  of  the  three  men  therefore  mounted  a 
horse,  abandoning  the  rest,  (they  had  stolen  quite  a  drove,) 
and  started  down  the  river,  with  the  intention  of  keeping 
the  Ohio  and  Indiana  side  till  they  should  arrive  opposite 


KB  VOLUTION  ARY  INCIDENTS.  305 

Louisville.  But  they  were  slow  in  making  even  this  move- 
ment ;  and  they  had  not  ridden  over  a  hundred  yards  when 
they  heard  a  loud  halloo,  proceeding  apparently  from  the 
spot  which  they  had  just  left.  They  were  soon  surrounded 
by  the  pursuers.  One  of  Kenton's  companions  effected  his 
escape,  the  other  was  killed.  Kenton  was  made  prisoner — 
"  falling  a  victim/7  says  Mr.  M'Clung,  "to  his  excessive  love 
of  horseflesh." 

After  the  Indians  had  scalped  his  dead  companion,  and 
kicked  and  cuffed  Kenton  to  their  hearts7  content,  they  com- 
pelled him  to  lie  down  upon  his  back,  and  stretch  out  his 
arms  to  their  full  length.  They  then  passed  a  stout  stick 
at  right  angles  across  his  breast,  to  each  extremity  of  which, 
his  wrists  were  fastened  by  thongs  of  buffalo-hide.  Stakes 
werejiext  driven  into  the  earth  near  his  feet,  to  which  they 
were  fastened  in  like  manner.  A  halter  was  then  tied  round 
his  neck,  and  fastened  to  a  sapling  which  grew  near.  And 
finally,  a  strong  rope  was  passed  under  his  body,  and  wound 
several  times  round  his  arms  at  the  elbows — thus  lashing 
them  to  the  stick  which  lay  across  his  breast,  and  to  which 
his  wrists  were  fastened,  in  a  manner  peculiarly  painful. 
He  could  move  neither  feet,  arms,  nor  head ;  and  was  kept 
in  this  position  till  the  next  morning.  The  Indians  then 
wishing  to  commence  their  return-journey,  unpinioned  Ken- 
ton,  and  lashed  him  by  the  feet,  to  a  wild,  unbroken  colt,  (one 
of  the  animals  he  had.  stolen  from  them,)  with  his  hands  tied 
behind  him. 

In  this  manner  he  was  driven  into  a  captivity,  as  cruel,  sin- 
gular, and  remarkable  in  other  respects,  as  any  in  the  whole 
history  of  Indian  warfare  upon  this  continent.  "  A  fatalist/7 
says  the  author  of  the  Sketches  of  Western  Adventure,  "  would 
recognise  the  hand  of  destiny  in  every  stage  of  its  progress. 
InJ:he  infatuation  with  which  Kenton  refused  to  adopt  proper 
measures  for  his  safety,  while  such  were  practicable ;  in  the 
persevering  obstinacy  with  which  he  remained  on  the  Ohio 
shore  until  flight  became  useless  ;  and  afterward,  in  that 
remarkable  succession  of  accidents,  by  which,  without  the 
least  exertion  on  his  part,  he  was  so  often  at  one  hour  tan- 
talized with  a  prospect  of  safety,  and  the  next  plunged  into 
the  deepest  despair.  He  was  eight  times  exposed  to  the 
gauntlet — three  times  tied  t0  the  stake — and  as  often 
26* 


306  HlSTOKICAL  AND 

thought  himself  upon  the  eve  of  a  terrible  death.  All  the 
sentences  passed  upon  him,  whether  of  mercy  or  condemna- 
tion, seem  to  have  been  pronounced  in  one  council  only  to  be 
reversed  in  another.  Every  friend  that  Providence  raised  up 
in  his  favor,  was  immediately  followed  by  some  enemy,  who 
unexpectedly  interposed,  and  turned  his  short  glimpse  of 
sunshine  into  deeper  darkness  than  ever.  For  three  weeks 
he  was  constantly  see-sawing  between  life  and  death ;  and 
during  the  whole  time,  he  was  perfectly  passive.  No  wisdom, 
or  foresight,  or  exertion,  could  have  saved  him.  Fortune 
fought  his  battle  from  first  to  last,  and  seemed  determined 
to  permit  nothing  else  to  interfere. 

He  was  eventually  liberated  from  the  Indians,  when  about 
to  be  bound  to  the  stake  for  the  fourth  time  and  burnt,  by  an 
Indian  agent  of  the  name  of  Drewyer,  who  was  anxious  to 
obtain  intelligence  for  the  British  commander  at  Detroit,  of 
the  strength  and  condition  of  the  settlements  in  Kentucky. 
He  got  nothing  important  out  of  Kenton ;  but  the  three 
weeks,  Football  of  Fortune  was  sent  to  Detroit,  from  which 
place  he  effected  his  escape  in  about  eight  months,  and 
returned  to  Kentucky.  Fearless  and  active,  he  soon  embarked 
in  new  enterprises ;  and  was  with  George  Kogers  Clarke,  in. 
his  celebrated  expedition  against  Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia ; 
with  Edwards,  in  his  abortive  expedition  to  the  Indian  towns 
in  1785 — and  with  Wayne,  in  his  decisive  campaign  of  1794. 

Simon  Kenton,  throughout  the  struggles  of  the  pioneers, 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  valuable  scout,  a  hardy  woods- 
man, and  a  brave  Indian  fighter;  but  in  reviewing  his  event- 
ful career,  he  appears  to  have  greatly  lacked  discretion,  and 
to  have  evinced  frequently  a  want  of  energy.  In  his  after 
life  he  was  much  respected,  and  he  continued  to  the  last  fond 
of  regaling  listeners  with  stories  of  the  early  times.  A 
friend  of  ours,  who  about  three  years  ago  made  a  visit  to  £he 
abode  of  the  venerable  patriarch,  describes  in  the  following 
terms  his  appearance  at  that  time:  "  Kenton's  form,  even 
under  the  weight  of  seventy-nine  years,  is  striking,  and 
must  have  been  a  model  of  manly  strength  and  agility.  His 
eye  is  blue,  mild,  and  yet  penetrating  in  its  glance.  The 
forehead  projects  very  much  at  the  eyebrows — which  are  well 
defined — and  then  recedes,  and  is  neither  very  high  nor  very 
broad.  His  hair,  which  in  active  life  was  light,  is  now  quite 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  307 

gray  ;  his  nose  is  straight ;  and  his  mouth,  before  he  lost  his 
teeth,  must  have  been  expressive  and  handsome.  I  observed 
that  he  had  yet  one  tooth — which,  in  connection  with  his 
character  and  manner  of  conversation,  was  continually  remind- 
ing me  of  Leatherstocking.  The  whole  face  is  remarkably 
expressive,  not  of  turbulence  or  excitement,  but  rather  of 
rumination  and  self-possession.  Simplicity,  frankness,  honesty, 
and  a  strict  regard  to  truth,  appeared  to  be  the  prominent 
traits  of  his  character.  In  giving  an  answer  to  a  question 
which  my  friend  asked  him,  I  was  particularly  struck  with 
his  truthfulness  and  simplicity.  The  question  was,  whether 
the  account  of  his  life,  given  in  the  Sketches  of  Western 
Adventure,  was  true  or  not.  "  Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  said  he  ; 
"not  true.  The  book  says  that  when  Blackfish,  the  Injun 
warrior,  asked  me,  when  they  had  taken  me  prisoner,  if 
Colonel  Boone  sent  me  to  steal  their  horses,  I  said  '  no,  sir  !' 
Here  he  looked  indignant  and  rose  from  his  chair.  "  I  tell 
you  I  never  said  '  sir  V  to  an  Injun  in  my  life  ;  I  scarcely  ever 
say  it  to  a  white  man."  Here  Mrs.  Kenton,  who  was  engaged 
in  some  domestic  occupation  at  the  table,  turned  round  and 
remarked,  that  when  they  were  last  in  Kentucky,  some  one 
gave  her  the  book  to  read  to  her  husband ;  and  that  when 
she  came  to  that  part,  he  would  not  let  her  read  any  further. 
"And  I  tell  you,"  continued  he,  "  I  was  never  tied  to  a  stake 
in  my  life  to  be  burned.  They  had  me  painted  black  when 
I  saw  G-irty,  but  not  tied  to  a  stake." 

We  are  inclined  to  think,  notwithstanding  this,  that  the 
statement  in  the  "  Sketches,"  of  his  being  three  times  tied 
to  the  stake,  is  correct ;  for  the  author  of  that  interesting 
work  had  before  him  a  manuscript  account  of  the  pioneer's 
life,  which  had  been  dictated  by  Mr.  Kenton,  to  a  gentleman 
of  Kentucky,  a  number  of  years  before,  when  he  had  no 
motive  to  exaggerate,  and  his  memory  was  comparatively 
unimpaired.  But  he  is  now  beyond  the  reach  of  earthly  toil, 
or  trouble,  or  suffering.  His  old  age  was  as  exemplary  as 
his  youth  and  manhood  had  been  active  and  useful.  And 
though  his  last  years  were  clouded  by  poverty,  and  his  eyes 
closed  in  a  miserable  cabin  to  the  light  of  life,  yet  shall  he 
occupy  a  bright  page  in  our  border  history,  and  his  name 
soon  open  to  the  light  of  fame. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

interesting  Sketch  of  the  life  of  General  Stark,  the  hero  of  Bennington— • 
The  Battle  of  Bennington — Boston  a  century  ago— Captain  William 
Cunningham. 

OUR  history,  which  must  necessarily  be  somewhat  episodi- 
cal in  its  character,  since  we  could  hardly  pretend  to  give  in 
a  single  volume,  a  detailed  history  of  Sam,  must  now  return 
to  the  more  northern  arena  of  his  struggles  with  the  great 
foe  whom  he  has  so  daringly  defied,  and  with  whom  he  so 
pertinaciously  struggles.  We  shall  give  only  rapid  sketches 
of  the  concluding  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  with  some  char- 
acteristic specimens  of  the  indomitable  humor  with  which 
the  "giant  youngling"  met  all  the  difficulties  of  his  new 
position  of  contention  with  the  foremost  Powers  of  all  the 
world.  The  battle  of  Bennington,  which  has  been  referred 
to  in  a  graphic  summary  of  the  events  of  this  period,  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  and  taken  principally  from  Judge  Drayton's 
charge,  has  found  a  worthy  historian  in  Richard  Everett,  the 
brother  of  Edward,  and  we  do  not  conceive,  that  the  transfer 
of  this  noble  sketch  of  the  bluff  and  hardy  hero,  Stark,  to 
our  pages,  does  any  discredit  to  the  true  history  of  "  Sam" 
and  his  children. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON. 

BY   RICHARD   EVERETT. 

"  When  Yankees  skilled  in  martial  rule, 
First  put  the  British  troops  to  school ; 
Instructed  them  in  warlike  trade, 
And  new  maneuvers  of  parade, 
The  true  war  dance  of  Yankee  reels, 
And  manual  exercise  of  heels ; 
Made  them  give  up  like  saints  complete, 
The  arm  of  flesh,  and  trust  the  feet, 
And  work  like  Christians  undissembling, 
Salvation  out  with  fear  and  trembling." 

308 


[REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  309 

John  Stark,  the  hero  of  Bennington,  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire.  At  an  early  age  he  enlisted  in  a  company  of 
rangers,  participated  in  several  conflicts  with  the  savages, 
and  at  last  fell  into  their  hands,  a  prisoner  of  war.  Eedeemed 
by  his  friends  for  one  hundred  and  three  dollars,  he  joined 
Rogers'  rangers,  and  served  with  distinction  through  the 
French  and  Indian  difficulty.  When  the  news  came  to  his 
quiet  home,  that  American  blood  had  been  spilt  upon  the 
green  at  Lexington,  he  rallied  his  countrymen,  and  hurried 
on  to  Boston  with  eight  hundred  brave  mountaineers.  He 
presented  himself  before  the  American  commander  on  the 
eve  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  receiving  a  colonel's 
commission,  instantly  hurried  to  the  intrenchments. 

Throughout  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Stark  and  his  New 
Hampshire  men  nobly  sustained  the  honor  of  the  patriot 
cause,  and  no  troops  exceeded  in  bravery  the  militia  regiment 
of  Colonel  John  Stark.  In  the  spring  of  1776,  he  went  to 
Canada,  and  at  the  battle  of  Trenton  he  commanded  the  right 
wing  of  Washington's  army.  He  was  at  Princeton,  Benning- 
ton, and  several  other  severe  battles,  always  sustaining  his 
reputation,  as  a  brave,  honorable,  sterling  patriot,  and  an 
able  general.  He  was  a  great  favorite  of  General  Washington, 
and  very  popular  in  the  army.  On  the  8th  of  May,  1822, 
aged  ninety-three  years,  he  "was  gathered  to  his  fathers," 
and  his  remains  repose  upon  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 
Merrimac,  beneath  a  monument  of  granite,  which  bears  the 
inscription — "  MAJOR-GENERAL  STARK." 

Having  given  a  very  brief  sketch  of  the  celebrated  officer 
who  led  our  patriot  militia  upon  the  field  of  Bennington,  we 
will  proceed  with  the  account  of  that  battle. 

The  magnificent  army  of  General  Burgoyne,  which  invaded 
the  States  in  1777,  having  become  straightened  for  provisions 
and  stores,  the  royal  commander  ordered  a  halt,  and  sent 
Colonel  Baume,  a  Hessian  officer,  to  scour  the  country  for 
supplies.  Baume  took  a  strong  force  of  British  infantry,  two 
pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  squadron  of  heavy  German  dra- 
goons. A  great  body  of  Indians,  hired  and  armed  by  the 
British,  followed  his  force,  or  acted  as  scouts  and  flanking 
parties. 

Stark,  on  the  intelligence  of  Burgoyne's  invasion,  was 
offered  the  command  of  one  of  two  regiments  of  troops  which 


£H  HISTORICAL  AND 

were  raised  in  New  Hampshire,  through  the  exertions, 
chiefly,  of  John  Langdon,  Speaker  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. Stark  had  served  for  a  long  period  as  General,  but  at 
that  time  was  at  home,  a  private  citizen.  But  at  the  call  of 
his  countrymen  he  again  took  the  field.  The  two  regiments 
were  soon  raised,  and  with  them,  as  senior  officer,  Stark 
hastened  to  oppose  the  British  army.  At  that  time  the 
Vermont  militia  were  enrolled  into  an  organization,  called 
the  "  Berkshire  llegiment,"  under  Colonel  Warner. 

On  arriving  near  Bennington,  Stark  sent  forward  Colonel 
Gregg,  with  a  small  force  to  reconnoiter,  but  that  officer  soon 
returned  with  information  that  a  strong  force  of  British, 
Hessians,  and  Indians  was  rapidly  approaching.  Upon  this 
intelligence,  Stark  resolved  to  stand  his  ground  and  give 
battle.  Messengers  were  sent  at  once  to  the  Berkshire  mili- 
tia to  hurry  on,  and  the  patriots  were  directed  to  see  that 
their  weapons  were  in  good  order.  This  was  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1777.  During  the  day,  Baume  and  his  army 
appeared,  and  learning  that  the  militia  were  collecting  in 
front  of  his  route,  the  commander  ordered  his  army  to  halt, 
and  throw  up  intrenchments.  An  express  was  also  sent  to 
General  Burgoyne,  for  reinforcements. 

The  15th  was  dull  and  rainy.  Both  armies  continued 
their  preparations,  while  waiting  for  reinforcements.  Skir- 
mishing was  kept  up  all  day  and  night,  between  the  militia 
and  the  Indians,  and  the  latter  suffered  so  severely,  that  a 
great  portion  of  the  savage  force  left  the  field,  saying  that 
"  the  woods  were  full  of  Yankees."  About  12  o'clock  on 
the  night  of  the  15th,  a  party  of  Berkshire  militia  came 
into  the  American  camp.  At  the  head  of  one  company,  was 
the  Eeverend  Mr.  Allen,  of  Pittsfield,  and  that  worthy  gen- 
tleman appeared  full  of  zeal  to  meet  the  enemy.  Sometime 
before  daylight,  he  called  on  General  Stark,  and  said: 
''General,  the  people  of  Berkshire  county  have  often  been 
called  out,  without  being  allowed  to  fight,  and  if  you  don't 
give  them  a  chance,  they  have  resolved  never  to  turn  out 
again."  "  Very  well,"  replied  Stark,  "  do  you  want  to  go  at 
it  now,  while  it  is  dark  and  rainy  ?"  "  No,  not  just  at  this 
moment,"  said  the  warlike  minister.  "  Then,"  said  the  Gen- 
eral, "  if  the  Lord  shall  once  more  give  us  sunshine,  and  I 
do  not  give  you  fighting-  enough,  I  '11  never  ask  you  to  come 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  311 

out  again  !"     This  satisfied  the  preacher,  and  he  went  -out  to 
cheer  up  his  flock  with  the  good  news. 

Day  dawned,  bright  and  warm,  on  the  16th.  All  nature, 
invigorated  by  the  mild  August  rain,  glared  with  beauty  and 
freshness.  Before  sunrise,  the  Americans  were  in  motion, 
while  from,  the  British  intrenchments,  the  sound  of  bugles 
and  the  roll  of  drums,  told  that  Baume's  forces  were  ready 
for  action.  Stark  early  arranged  his  plan  of  attack.  Col- 
onel Nichols,  with  three  hundred  men,  was  sent  out  to  attack 
the  British  rear;  Colonel  Herrick,  with  three  hundred  men, 
marched  against  the  right  flank,  but  was  ordered  to  join 
Nichols  before  making  his  assault  general.  With  about 
three  hundred  men,  Colonels  Hubbard  and  Stickney  were 
sent  against  the  entrenched  front,  while  Stark,  with  a  small 
reserve,  waited  to  operate  whenever  occasion  offered.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  American  forces  were  militia, 
while  Baume's  army  was  made  up  of  well-disciplined,  well- 
armed,  and  experienced  soldiers.  Many  of  the  patriots  were 
armed  with  fowling-pieces,  and  there  were  whole  companies 
without  a  bayonet.  They  had  no  artillery. 

General  Stark  waited  impatiently  until  the  roar  of  mus- 
ketry proclaimed  that  the  different  detachments  had  com- 
menced their  attack,  and  then  forming  his  small  battalion, 
he  made  his  memorable  speech:  "Boys!  there's  the  enemy, 
and  we  must  beat  them,  or  Molly  Stark  sleeps  a  widow 
to-night — Forward  !"  His  soldiers,  with  enthusiastic  shouts, 
rushed  forward  upon  the  Hessian  defenses,  and  the  battle 
became  general.  The  Hessian  dragoons,  dismounted,  met 
the  Americans  with  stern  bravery.  The  two  cannons,  loaded 
with  grape  and  cannister,  swept  the  hill-side  with  dreadful 
effect, 

Stark's  white  horse  fell  in  less  than  ten  minutes  after  his 
gallant  rider  came  under  fire,  but  on  foot,  with  his  hat  in 
one  hand,  and  his  saber  in  the  other,  he  kept  at  the  head  of 
his  men,  who,  without  flinching  a  single  foot,  urged  their 
way  up  the  little  hill.  Brave  Parson  Allen,  with  a  clubbed 
musket,  was  seen  amid  the  smoke,  fighting  in  the  front 
platoon  of  his  company.  The  whole  field  was  a  volcano  of 
fire.  Stark,  in  his  official  report,  says  that  the  two  forces 
were  within  a  few  yards  of  each  other,  and  "  the  roaring  of 
their  guns  was  like  a  continuous  clap  of  thunder !"  The 


S12  HISTORICAL  AND 

Hessian  and  British  regulars,  accustomed  to  hard-fought 
fields,  held  their  ground  stubbornly  and  bravely.  For  more 
than  two  hours  the  battle  hung  in  even  scale.  At  length, 
Baume  ordered  a  charge ;  at  that  instant  he  fell,  mortally 
wounded,  and  his  men  charging  forward,  broke  their  ranks 
in  such  a  manner,  that  the  Americans  succeeded,  after  a 
fierce  hand  to  hand  fight,  in  entering  the  mtrenchments. 

Stark  shouted  to  his  men,  "  Forward,  boys,  charge  them 
home !"  and  his  troops,  maddened  by  the  conflict,  swept  the 
hill  with  irresistible  valor.  They  pushed  forward  without 
discipline  or  order,  seized  the  artillery,  and  gave  chase  to  the 
flying  enemy.  The  field  being  won,  plunder  became  the 
object  of  the  militia. 

The  guns,  sabres,  stores  and  equipments  of  the  defeated 
foe  were  being  gathered  up,  when  Col.  Breyman,  with  five 
hundred  men,  suddenly  appeared  upon  the  field.  He  had 
been  sent  by  Burgoyne  to  re-inforce  Baume,  but  the  heavy 
rain  had  prevented  his  men  from  marching  at  a  rapid  rate. 
The  flying  troops  instantly  rallied  and  joined  the  new  array, 
which  speedily  assumed  an  order  of  battle,  and  began  to  press 
the  scattered  forces  of  the  patriots..  This  was  a  critical 
period.  Stark  put  forth  every  effort  to  rally  his  men,  but 
they  were  exhausted,  scattered,  and  nearly  out  of  ammuni- 
tion. It  seemed  as  if  the  fortune  of  the  day  was  in  the 
royal  hands,  when  from  the  edge  of  a  strip  of  forest,  half  a 
mile  off,  came  a  loud  and  genuine  American  cheer.  Stark 
turned,  and  beheld  emerging  from  the  wood,  the  Berkshire 
regiment,  under  Colonel  Warner.  This  body  of  men,  also 
delayed  by  the  rain,  after  a  forced  march,  had  just  reached 
the  battle  field,  panting  for  a  share  in  the  affray.  General 
Stark  hastened  to  the  captain  of  the  foremost  company,  and 
ordered  him  to  lead  his  men  to  the  charge  at  once.  But  the 
captain  cooly  asked,  "  Where's  the  colonel  ?  I  want  to  see 
Colonel  Warner  before  I  move."  The  colonel  was  sent  for, 
and  the  redoubtable  captain,  drawing  himself  up,  said,  with 
the  nasal  twang  peculiar  to  the  puritans  of  old,  "Naow, 
Kernal,  what  d'ye  want  me  tu  dew?"  '; Drive  those 
red-coats  from  the  hill  yonder,"  was  the  answer.  "  Wall,  it 
shall  be  done,"  said  the  captain,  and  issuing  the  necessary 
orders,  he  led  his  men  to  the  charge  without  a  moment's 
hesitation. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  313 

Said  an  eye-witness,  afterwards,  "  The  last  we  saw  of 
Warner's  regiment  for  half  an  hour,  was  when  they  entered 
the  smoke  and  fire  about  half  way  up  the  hill."  Stark  with 
a  portion  of  his  rallied  troops  supported  the  Berkshire  men, 
and  the  royal  forces  were  defeated,  after  a  close  contest.  A 
portion  of  them  escaped,  but  seven  hundred  men  and  officers 
were  taken  prisoners,  among  the  latter  Colonel  Baume,  who 
soon  died  of  his  wound. 

The  British  lost  two  hundred  and  seven  men  killed,  and  a 
large  number  wounded.  Of  the  Americans,  about  one  hun- 
dred were  killed  and  the  same  number  wounded  The  spoils 
consisted  of  four  pieces  of  cannon,  several  hundred  stand  of 
excellent  muskets,  two  hundred  and  fifty  dragoon  swords, 
eight  brass  drums,  and  four  wagons  laden  with  stores,  cloth- 
ing and  ammunition. 

This  victory  severely  crippled  Burgoyne,  and  discouraged 
his  army,  while  it  enlivened  the  Americans  from  one  extent 
of  the  country  to  the  other.  It  taught  the  British  troops  to 
respect  the  American  militia,  and  it  was  a  brilliant  precursor 
to  the  victories  of  Saratoga  and  Bemis'  Hights. 

Congress  voted  thanks  to  General  Stark  and  his  brave 
troops  for  their  great  victory,  and  took  measures  to  push  on 
the  war  with  renewed  energy  and  hope. 

But  the  joke  of  "or  Molly  Stark's  a  widow,"  is  not  the 
only  fun  indulged  in  at  this  period,  by  "  Sam,"  and  at  the 
expense  too  of  "  the  magnificent  army  of  Burgoyne."  This 
pompous  and  important  person  had  just  before  issued  the 
following  conciliatory  document : 

PROCLAMATION. 

By  John  Burgoyne,  Esq.,  Lieutenant  General  of  His  Majes- 
ty's armies  in  America,  Colonel  of  the  Qmen's  regiment  of 
Light  Dragoons,  Governor  of  Fort  William,  in  North 
Britain,  one  of  the  Representatives  of  the  Commons  of  Great 
Britain,  and  commanding  an  army  and  fleet  employed  on 
an  Expedition  from  Canada,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

The  forces  entrusted  to  my  command  are  designed  to  act 
in  concert,  and  upon  a  common  principle,  with  the  numerous 
armies  and  fleets  which  already  display  in  every  quarter  of 


314  HISTORICAL  AND 

America  the  power,  the  justice,  and,  when  properly  sought, 
the  mercy  of  the  king. 

The  cause  in  which  the  British  army  is  thus  exerted, 
applies  to  the  most  affecting  interests  of  the  human  heart; 
and  the  military  servants  of  the  crown,  at  first  called  forth 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  rights  of  the  constitu- 
tion, now  combine  with  love  of  their  country  and  duty  to 
their  sovereign,  the  other  extensive  incitements,  which  form 
a  due  sense  of  the  general  privileges  of  mankind.  To  the 
eyes  and  ears  of  the  temperate  part  of  the  public,  and  the 
breasts  of  suffering  thousands  in  the  provinces,  be  the  melan- 
choly appeal,  whether  the  present  unnatural  rebellion  has 
not  been  made  a  foundation  for  the  completest  system  of 
tyranny  that  ever  God,  in  his  displeasure,  suffered  for  a  time 
to  be  exercised  over  a  stubborn  and  froward  generation. 

Arbitrary  imprisonment,  confiscation  of  property,  persecu- 
tion and  torture,  unprecedented  in  the  inquisition  of  the 
Eomish  church,  are  among  the  palpable  enormities  that 
verify  the  affirmative.  These  are  inflicted  by  assemblies  and 
committees  who  dare  to  profess  themselves  friends  to  liberty, 
upon  the  most  quiet  subjects,  without  distinction  of  age  or 
sex,  for  the  sole  crime,  often  for  the  sole  suspicion,  of  having 
adhered  in  principle  to  the  government  under  which  they 
were  born,  and  to  which,  by  every  tie,  divine  and  human, 
they  owe  allegiance.  To  consummate  these  shocking  pro- 
ceedings, the  profanation  of  religion  is  added  to  the  most 
profligate  prostitution  of  common  reason — the  consciences  of 
men  are  set  at  naught,  and  multitudes  are  not  only  compelled 
to  bear  arms,  but  also  to  swear  subjection  to  a  usurpation 
they  abhor. 

Animated  by  these  considerations — at  the  head  of  troops 
in  the  full  powers  of  health,  discipline  and  valor — determined 
to  strike  where  necessary,  and  anxious  to  spare  where  possible 
— I,  by  these  presents,  invite  and  exhort  all  persons,  in  all 
places  whither  the  progress  of  this  army  may  point — and,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  I  will  extend  it  far — to  maintain  such 
a  conduct  as  may  justify  me  in  protecting  their  lands,  habi- 
tations and  families.  The  intention  of  this  address  is  tc 
hold  forth  security,  not  degradation,  to  the  country.  Tc 
those  whom  spirit  and  principle  may  indue  to  partake  the 
glorious  task  of  redeeming  their  countrymen  from  dangers, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  315 

and  re-establishing  the  blessings  of  legal  government,  I  offer 
encouragement  and  employment ;  and  upon  the  first  intelli- 
gence of  their  association,  I  will  find  means  to  assist  their 
undertakings.  The  domestic,  the  industrious,  the  infirm, 
and  even  the  timid  inhabitants,  I  am  desirous  to  protect, 
provided  they  remain  quietly  at  their  houses — that  they  do 
not  suffer  their  cattle  to  be  removed,  nor  their  corn  or  forage 
to  be  secreted  or  destroyed — that  they  do  not  break  up  their 
bridges  or  roads,  nor  by  any  other  act,  directly  or  indirectly, 
endeavor  to  obstruct  the  operations  of  the  king's  troops,  or 
supply  or  assist  those  of  the  enemy. 

Every  species  of  provisions  brought  to  my  camp  will  be 
paid  for  at  an  equitable  rate,  and  in  solid  coin. 

In  consciousness  of  Christianity,  rny  royal  master's 'clem- 
ency, and  the  honor  of  soldiership,  I  have  dwelt  upon  this 
invitation,  and  wished  for  more  persuasive  terms  to  give  it 
impression.  And  let  not  people  be  led  to  disregard  it  by 
considering  their  distance  from  the  immediate  situation  of 
my  camp.  I  have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the  Indian  forces 
under  my  direction — and  they  amount  to  thousands — to 
overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Britain  and  America. 
I  consider  them  the  same  wherever  they  may  lurk. 

If,  notwithstanding  these  endeavors  and  sincere  inclinations 
to  effect  them,  the  frenzy  of  hostility  should  remain,  I  trust 
I  shall  stand  acquitted  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  men,  in 
denouncing  and  executing  the  vengeance  of  the  State  against 
the  willful  outcasts.  The  messengers  of  justice  and  of  wrath 
await  them  in  the  field ;  and  devastation,  famine,  and  every 
concommitant  horror  that  a  reluctant  but  indispensable 
prosecution  of  military  duty  must  occasion,  will  bar  the  way 
to  their  return. 

JOHN  BURGOYNE. 

Camp  at  Ticonderoga,  July  2,  1777. 

By  order  of  his  excellency,  the  Lieutenant  General : 

ROBERT  KINGSTON,  Secretary. 

Now  hear  "  Sam's"  answer  through  one  of  his  chosen 
sons,  to  this  facetious  pronunciamento !  It  is  a  veritable 
document  of  the  "  olden  time,"  which  the  children  of  "  Sam," 
during  this  or  the  last  generation,  have  had  no  opportunity 
of  perusing: 


316  HISTORICAL  AND 


To  John  Burgoyne,  Esq.,  Lieutenant  General  of  his  Majesty's 
armies,  in  America,  Colonel  of  the  Queen's  regiment  of  light 
dragoons,  Governor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Britain,  one 
of  the  Representatives  of  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain,  and 
commanding  an  army  and  fleet  employed  on  an  Expedition 
from  Canada,  etc.,  etc.  etc. 

MOST  HIGH,  MOST  MIGHTY,  MOST  PUISSANT,  AND  MOST  SUB- 
LIME GENERAL: — When  the  forces  under  your  command 
arrived  at  Quebec,  in  order  to  act  in  concert,  and  upon  a 
common  principle,  with  the  numerous  fleets  and  armies  which 
already  display  in  every  quarter  of  America,  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  your  king,  we,  the  reptiles  of  America,  were  struck 
with  unusual  trepidation  and  astonishment.  But  what  words 
can  express  the  plentitude  of  our  horror,  when  the  Colonel 
of  the  Queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons  advanced  toward 
Ticonderoga.  The  mountains  shook  before  thee,  and  the 
trees  of  the  forest  bowed  their  lofty  heads — the  vast  lakes 
of  the  north  were  chilled  at  thy  presence,  and  the  mighty 
cataracts  stopped  their  tremendous  career,  and  were  suspended 
in  awe  at  thy  approach.  Judge,  then,  Oh !  Ineffable  Gov- 
ernor of  Fort  William,  in  North  Britain,  what  must  have 
been  the  terror,  dismay,  and  despair  that  overspread  this 
paltry  continent  of  America,  and  us,  its  wretched  inhabitants. 
Dark  and  dreary,  indeed,  was  the  prospect  before  us,  till, 
like  the  sun  in  the  horizon,  your  most  gracious,  sublime,  and 
irresistible  proclamation,  opened  the  doors  of  mercy,  and 
snatched  us,  as  it  were,  from  the  jaws  of  annihilation. 

We  foolishly  thought,  blind  as  we  were,  that  your  gracious 
master's  fleets  and  armies  were  come  to  destroy  us  and  our 
liberties ;  but  we  are  happy  in  hearing  from  you  (and  who 
can  doubt  what  you  assert  ?)  that  they  were  called  forth  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  rights  of  the  Constitution 
to  a  froward  and  stubborn  generation. 

And  is  it  for  this,  0 !  Sublime  Lieutenant-General,  that 
you  have  given  yourself  the  trouble  to  cross  the  wide  Atlantic, 
and  with  incredible  fatigue  traverse  uncultivated  wilds? 
And  we  ungratefully  refuse  the  proffered  blessing?  To 
restore  the  rights  of  the  Constitution,  you  have  called 
together  an  amiable  host  of  savages,  and  turned  them  loose 
to  scalp  our  women  and  children,  and  lay  our  country  waste — • 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  817 

tli is  they  have  performed  with  their  usual  skill  and  clem- 
ency, and  yet  we  remain  insensible  of  the  benefit,  and 
unthankful  for  so  much  gooiness. 

Our  Congress  has  declared  Independence,  and  our  Assem- 
blies, as  your  Highness  justly  observes,  have  most  wickedly 
imprisoned  the  avowed  friends  of  that  power  with  which  they 
are  at  war,  and  most  profanely  compelled  those  whose  con- 
sciences will  not  permit  them  to  fight,  to  pay  some  small 
part  toward  the  expenses  their  country  is  at,  in  supporting 
what  is  called  a  necessary  defensive  war.  If  we  go  on  thus 
in  our  obstinacy  and  ingratitude,  what  can  we  expect,  hut 
that  you  should,  in  your  anger,  give  a  stretch  to  the  Indian 
forces  under  your  direction,  amounting  to  thousands,  to  over- 
take and  destroy  us?  or,  which  is  ten  times  worse,  that  you 
should  withdraw  your  fleets  and  armies,  and  leave  us  to  our 
misery,  without  completing -the  benevolent  task  you  have 
k'gun,  of  restoring  to  us  the  rights  of  the  Constitution  ? 

We  submit — we  submit — Most  Puissant  Colonel  of  the 
Queen's  regiment  of  light  dragoons,  and  Governor  of  Fort 
William,  in  North  Britain.  We  offer  our  heads  to  the 
scalping-knife,  and  our  bellies  to  the  bayonet.  Who  can 
resist  the  force  of  your  eloquence  ?  Who  can  withstand  the 
terror  of  your  arms?  The  invitation  you  have  made  in  the 
consciousness  of  Christianity,  your  royal  master's  clemency, 
and  the  horror  of  soldiership,  we  thankfully  accept.  The 
blood  of  the  slain,  the  cries  of  injured  virgins  and  innocent 
children,  and  the  never-ceasing  sighs  and  groans  of  starving 
wretches,  now  languishing  in  the  jails  and  prison-ships  of 
New  York,  call  on  us  in  vain,  while  your  sublime  procla- 
mation is  sounded  in  our  ears.  Forgive  us,  0  !  our  country ! 
Forgive  us,  dear  posterity!  Forgive  us,  all  ye  foreign 
powers,  who  are  anxiously  watching  our  conduct  in  this 
important  struggle,  if  we  yield  implicitly  to  the  persuasive 
tongue  of  the  most  elegant  Colonel  of  her  Majesty's  regiment 
of  light  dragoons. 

Forbear,  then,  thou  magnanimous  Lieutenant-General ! 
Forbear  to  denounce  vengeance  against  us.  Forbear  to  give 
a  stretch  to  those  restorers  of  Constitutional  rights,  the  Indian 
tbrces  under  your  direction.  Let  not  the  messenger  of  justice 
and  wrath  await  us  in  the  field,  and  devastation,  and  every 
concomitant  horror,  bar  our  return  to  the  allegiance  of  a 
27* 


318  HISTORICAL  AND 

prince,  who,  by  his  royal  will,  would  deprive  us  of  every  bless- 
ing of  life,  with  all  possible  clemency. 

We  are  domestic,  we  are  industrious,  we  are  infirm  and 
timid ;  we  shall  remain  quietly  at  home,  and  not  remove  our 
cattle,  our  corn,  our  forage,  in  hope  that  you  will  come,  at 
the  head  of  your  troops,  in  the  full  powers  of  health,  disci- 
pline, and  valor,  and  take  charge  of  them  yourselves.  Behold 
our  wives  and  daughters,  our  flocks  and  herds,  our  goods  and 
chattels,  are  they  not  at  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  the  King, 
and  of  his  Lieu  ten  ant-General,  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  Governor  of  Fort  William,  in  North  Britain  ? 

A.  B. 

C.  D. 

E.  P.,  ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC. 

Saratoga,  10th  July,  1777. 

"  Sam"  makes  condescending  proposals  for  a  compromise  with 
his  haughty  master,  General  Burgoyne,  and  asks  him  in 
philanthropical  spirit,  to  be  "as  mild  as  he  can!" 

Proposal  for  an  exchange  of  General  Burgoyne.  Ascribed 
to  Ms  Excellency  William  Livingston,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  Jersey. 

Should  the  report  of  Gefleral  Burgoyne  having  infringed 
the  capitulation,  between  Major  General  Gates  and  himself, 
prove  to  be  true,  our  superiors  will  doubtless  take  proper 
care  to  prevent  his  reaping  any  benefit  from  it ;  and  should 
he  be  detained  as  a  prisoner,  for  his  infraction  of  any  of  the 
articles,  I  would  humbly  propose  to  exchange  him,  in  such  a 
manner  as  will,  at  the  same  time,  flatter  his  vanity  and  re- 
dound to  the  greatest  emolument  to  America.  To  evince 
the  reasonableness  of  my  proposal,  I  would  observe,  that  by 
the  same  parity  of  reason  that  a  general  is  exchanged  for  a 
general,  a  colonel  for  a  colonel,  and  so  on  with  respect  to 
other  officers,  mutually  of  equal  rank,  we  ought  to  have  for 
one  and  the  same  gentleman  who  shall  happen  to  hold  both 
these  offices,  both  a  general  and  a  colonel.  This  will  appear 
evident  from  the  consideration  that  those  exchanges  are 
never  regulated  by  viewing  the  persons  exchanged  in  the 
light  of  men,  but  as  officers;  since  otherwise,  a  colonel  might 
as  well  be  exchanged  for  a  sergeant  as  for  an  officer  of  his 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  319 

jwn  rank ;  a  sergeant  being,  undoubtedly,  equally  a  man,  and, 
as  the  case  sometimes  happens,  more  of  a  man  too.  One 
prisoner,  therefore,  having  twenty  different  offices,  ought  to 
redeem  from  captivity  twenty  prisoners,  aggregately  holding 
the  same  offices ;  or  such  greater  or  less  number  as  shall, 
with  respect  to  rank,  be  equal  to  his  twenty  offices.  This 
being  admitted,  I  think  General  Burgoyne  is  the  most  profit- 
able prisoner  we  could  have  taken,  having  more  offices,  or, 
(what  amounts  to  the  same  thing  in  Old  England,)  more 
titles,  than  any  gentleman  on  this  side  the  Ganges.  And  as 
his  impetuous  Excellency  certainly  meant  to  avail  himself  of 
his  titles,  by  their  pompous  display  in  his  proclamation,  had 
he  proved  conqueror,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  we  should  avail 
ourselves  of  them,  now  he  is  conquered  ;  and,  till  I  meet 
with  a  better  project  for  that  purpose,  I  persuade  myself 
that  the  following  proposal  will  appropriate  them  to  a  better 
use  than  they  were  ever  applied  to  before. 
The  exchange  I  propose  is  as  follows  : 

I.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Esquire. 

Some  worthy  justice  of  the  peace,  magnanimously  stolen 
out  of  his  bed,  or  taken  from  his  farm  by  a  bapd  of  ruffians 
in  the  uniform  of  British  soldiery,  and  now  probably  perish- 
ing with  hunger  and  cold  in  a  loathsome  jail  in  New  York. 

II.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Lieutenant  General  of  His  Majesty 's 
armies  in  America. 

Two  Majors  General. 

III.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Colonel  of  the  Queen's  regiment  of 
Light  Dragoons. 

As  the  British  troops  naturally  prize  everything  in  pro- 
portion as  it  partakes  of  royalty,  and  undervalue  whatever 
originates  from  a  Republican  government,  I  suppose  a  colonel 
of  Her  Majesty's  own  regiment  will  procure  at  least  three 
Continental  Colonels  of  horse. 

IV.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Governor  of  Fort  William,  in 
North  Britain. 

Here  I  would  demand  one  governor  of  one  of  the  United 
States,  as  his  multitulary  excellence  is  governor  of  a  fort,  and 
two  more,  as  that  fort  is  in  North  Britain,  which  his  Brit- 
tanic  majesty  may  be  presumed  to  value  in  that  proportion ; 
but  considering  that  the  said  fort  is  called  William,  which 
may  excite  in  his  majesty's  mind  the  rebellious  idea  of  liberty, 


320  HISTORICAL  AND 

I  deduct,  one   on   that  account,  and,  rather  than  puzzle  the 
cartel  with  any  perplexity,  I  am  content  with  two  governors. 

V.  For  John  Burgoyne,  one  of   the   Kepresentatives  of 
Great  Britain. 

The  first  member  of  Congress  who  may  fall  into  the 
enemy's  hands. 

VI.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Commander  of  a  fleet  employed  in 
an  expedition  from  Canada. 

The  Admiral  of  our  navy. 

VII.  For  John  Burgoyne,  Commander  of  an  army  employed 
in  an  expedition  from  Canada. 

One  Commander-in-Chief  in  any  of  our  departments. 

VIII.  For  John  Burgoyne,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

Some  connoisseurs  in  hieroglyphics  imagine  that  these 
three  et  ceteras  are  emblematical  of  three  certain  occult 
qualities  of  the  general,  which  he  never  intends  to  exhibit 
in  more  legible  characters,  viz :  prudence,  modesty,  and 
humanity.  Others  suppose  that  they  stand  for  king  of  America, 
and  that,  had  he  proved  successful,  he  would  have  fallen 
upon  General  Howe,  and  afterwards  have  set  up  for  himself. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  (which  it,  however,  behooves  a  certain 
gentleman  on  the  other  side  the  water  seriously  to  consider,) 
I  insist  upon  it,  that  as  all  dark  and  cabalistical  characters 
are  suspicious,  these  incognoscible  enigmas  may  portend  much 
more  than  is  generally  apprehended.  At  all  events,  General 
Burgoyne  has  availed  himself  of  their  importance,  and  I 
doubt  not  they  excited  as  much  terror  in  his  proclamation  as 
any  of  his  more  luminous  titles.  As  his  person,  therefore, 
is  by  the  capture,  become  the  property  of  the  Congress,  all 
his  titles,  (which  some  suppose  to  constitute  his  very  essence,) 
whether  more  splendid  or  opaque,  latent  or  visible,  are  become, 
ipso  facto,  the  lawful  goods  and  chattels  of  the  Continent, 
and  ought  not  to  be  restored  without  a  considerable  equivalent. 
If  we  should  happen  to  overrate  them,  it  is  his  own  fault,  it 
being  in  his  power  to  ascertain  their  intrinsic  value,  and  it 
is  a  rule  in  law,  that  when  a  man  is  possessed  of  evidence  to 
disprove  what  is  alleged  against  him,  and  refuses  to  produce 
it,  the  presumption  raised  against  him  is  to  be  taken  for 
granted.  Certain  it  is,  that  these  three  et  ceteras  must- 
stand  for  three  somethings,  and  as  these  three  somethings 
must,  at  least,  be  equal  to  three  somethings  without  rank  01 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  821 

title,  I  had  some  thoughts  of  setting  them  down  for  three 
privates;  but  then,  as  they  are  three  somethings  in  General 
Burgoyne,  which  must  be  of  twice  the  value  of  three  any- 
things  in  any  three  privates,  I  shall  only  double  them,  and 
demand  in  exchange  for  these  three  problematical,  enigmati- 
cal, hieroglyphical,  mystic,  necromantical,  cabalistical,  and 
portentious  et  ceteras,  six  privates. 

So  that,  according  to  my  plan,  we  ought  to  detain  this 
ideal  conquerer  of  the  North,  now  a  real  prisoner  in  the  East, 
till  we  have  got  in  exchange  for  him,  one  esquire,  two  majors- 
general,  three  colonels  of  light  horse,  two  governors,  one 
member  of  Congress,  the  admiral  of  one  navy,  one  coin- 
mander-in-chief  in  a  separate  department,  and  six  privates  ; 
which  is  probably  more  than  this  extraordinary  hero  would 
fetch  in  any  part  of  Great  Britain,  were  he  exposed  at  public 
auction  for  a  year  and  a  day.  All  which  is  nevertheless, 
humbly  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  honorable,  the 
Congress,  and  his  excellency,  General  Washington. 

Princeton,  December  8th,  1777. 

In  order  that  good  jokes  may  not  go  abroad  without  com- 
pany we  append  the  following,  which  are  quite  equally 
expressive  of  the  spirit  of  the  times  of  which  we  treat : 

REMINISCENCES. 

BOSTON   LESS   THAN   A   CENTURY   AGO. 

Dress,  etc. — Seventy  years  ago  cocked  hats,  wigs,  and  red 
cloaks,  were  the  usual  dress  of  gentlemen — boots  were  rarely 
seen,  except  among  military  men.  Shoe-strings  were  worn 
only  by  those  who  could  not  afford  to  buy  buckles.  In  winter, 
round  coats  were  used,  made  stiff  with  buckram — they  came 
down  to  the  knees  in  front. 

Before  the  Revolution,  boys  wore  wigs  and  cocked  hats  ; 
and  boys  of  genteel  families  wore  cocked  hats  till  within  the 
last  thirty  years. 

Ball-dress  for  gentlemen  was  silk  coat,  and  breeches  of  the 
same,  and  embroidered  waistcoats — sometimes  white  satin 
breeches.  Buckles  were  fashionable  till  within  the  last  fifteen 
or  twenty  years,  and  a  man  could  not  have  remained  in  a 
ball-room  with  shoe-strings.  It  was  usual  for  the  bridegroom 


322  HISTORICAL  AND 

and  maids,  and  men  attending,  to  go  to  church  together 
three  successive  Sundays  after  the  wedding,  with  a  change 
of  dress  each  day.  A  gentleman  who  deceased  not  long  since, 
appeared  the  first  Sunday  in  white  broadcloth,  the  second  in 
blue  and  gold,  the  third  in  peach  bloom,  pearl  buttons.  It 
was  a  custom  to  hang  the  escutcheon  of  a  deceased  head  of 
a  family  out  of  a  window  over  the  front  door,  from  the  time 
of  his  decease  until  after  his  funeral.  The  last  instance 
which  is  remembered  of  this,  was  in  the  case  of  Gov.  Han- 
cock's uncle,  1764.  Copies  of  the  escutcheon,  painted  on 
black  silk,  were  more  anciently  distributed  among  the  pall- 
bearers, rings  afterward — and,  until  within  a  few  years,  gloves. 
Dr.  A.  Elliott  had  a  mug  full  of  rings  which  were  presented  to 
him  at  funerals.  Till  within  twenty  years,  gentlemen  wore 
powder,  and  many  of  them  sat  from  thirty  to  forty  minutes 
under  the  barber's  hand,  to  have  their  hair  cropped ;  suffer- 
ing no  inconsiderable  pain  from  hair-pulling,  and  sometimes 
from  hot  tongs.  Crape  cushions  and  hoops  were  indispensable 
in  full  dress,  until  within  thirty  years.  Sometimes  ladies 
were  dressed  the  day  before  the  party  and  slept  in  easy  chairs, 
to  keep  their  hair  in  fit  condition  for  the  following  night. 
Most  ladies  went  to  parties  on  foot,  if  they  could  not  get  a 
cast  in  a  friend's  carriage  or  chaise.  Gentlemen  rarely  had 
a  chance  to  ride. 

The  latest  dinner  hour  was  two  o'clock ;  some  officers  of 
the  colonial  government  dined  later  occasionally.  In  genteel 
families,  ladies  went  to  drink  tea  about  four  o'clock,  and 
rarely  stayed  after  candle-light  in  summer.  It  was  the 
fashion  for  ladies  to  propose  to  visit — not  to  be  sent  for. 
The  drinking  of  punch  in  the  forenoon,  in  public  houses,  was 
a  common  practice  with  the  most  respectable  men,  till  about 
five  and  twenty  years ;  and  evening  clubs  were  very  common. 
The  latter,  it  is  said,  were  more  common  formerly,  as  this 
afforded  the  means  of  communion  on  the  state  of  the  country. 
Dinner  parties  were  very  rare.  Wine  was  very  little  in  use  ; 
convivial  parties  drank  punch  or  toddy.  Half  boots  came 
into  use  about  thirty  years  ago.  The  first  pair  that  appeared 
in  Boston  were  worn  by  a  young  gentleman,  who  came  here 
from  New  York,  and  who  was  more  remarkable  for  his  boots 
than  anything  else.  Within  twenty  years,  gentlemen  wore 
scarlet  coats,  with  black  velvet  collars  and  very  costly  buttons, 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  323 

of  mock  pearl,  cut  steel,  or  painted  glass — and  neckcloths 
edged  with  lace,  and  laced  ruffles  over  the  hands.  Before 
the  Ke volution,  from  five  to  six  hundred  pounds  was  the 
utmost  of  annual  expenditure  in  those  families  where  carriages, 
and  corresponding  domestics  were  kept.  There  were  only 
two  or  three  carriages,  that  is  chariots  or  coaches,  in  1750. 
Chaises  on  four  wheels,  not  phaetons,  were  in  use  in  families 
of  distinction. 

The  history  of  the  Liberty-Tree  is  said  to  be  this  :  That  a 
certain  Capt.  Mclntosh  illuminated  the  tree,  and  hung  upon 
it  effigies  of  obnoxious  characters,  and  that  these  were  taken 
down  by  the  liberty  boys  and  burnt,  and  the  tree  thus  got 
its  name. 

The  Popes. — A  stage  was  erected  on  wheels — on  this  stage 
was  placed  a  figure  in  the  chair,  called  the  pope  ;  behind  him, 
a  female  figure,  in  the  attitude  of  dancing,  whom  they  called 
Nancy  Dawson ;  behind  her  Admiral  Byng,  hanging  on  a 
gallows ;  and  behind  him  the  devil.  A  similar  composition 
was  made  at  the  South-end,  called  South-end  pope.  In  the 
daytime  the  processions,  each  drawing  with  them  their  popes 
and  their  attendants,  met  and  passed  each  other,  on  the  mill 
or  draw-bridge,  very  civilly  ;  but  in  the  evening,  they  met 
at  the  same  point,  and  a  battle  ensued  with  fists,  sticks  and 
stones  ;  and  one  or  the  other  of  the  popes  was  captured. 
The  North-end  pope  was  never  taken  but  once,  and  then  the 
captain  had  been  early  wounded  and  taken  from  the  field. 
The  pope  conflicts  were  held  in  memory  of  the  powder-plot 
of  Nov.  5,  and  were  some  sort  of  imitation  of  what  was  done 
in  England  on  the  same  anniversary. 

A  man  used  to  ride  on  an  ass,  with  immense  jackboots, 
and  his  face  covered  with  a  horrible  mask,  and  was  called, 
Joyce  Jr.  His  office  was  to  assemble  men  and  boys,  in  mob 
style,  and  ride  in  the  middle  of  them,  and  in  such  company 
to  terrify  the  adherents  to  the  royal  government,  before  the 
Revolution.  The  tumult  which  resulted  in  the  massacre  of 
1770,  was  excited  by  such  means.  Joyce,  junior,  was  said  to 
have  a  particular  whistle,  which  brought  his  adherents,  etc., 
whenever  they  were  wanted. 

About  1730  to  1740,  there  was  no  meat  market;  there 
were  only  three  or  four  shops  in  which  fresh  meat  was  sold — 
one  of  them  was  the  corner  of  State  street  and  Cornhill. 


324  HISTORICAL  AND 

where  Mr.  Hartshorn  now  keeps.  Gentlemen  used  to  go  the 
day  before,  and  have  their  names  put  down  for  what  thoy 
wanted.  Outside  of  this  shop  was  a  large  hook,  on  which 
carcasses  used  to  hang.  A  little  man,  who  was  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  came  one  day  for  meat,  but  came  too  late.  He 
was  disappointed,  and  asked  to  whom  such  and  such  pieces 
were  to  go?  One  of  them  was  to  go  to  a  tradesman;  (it  was 
not  a  common  thing  in  those  days,  for  tradesmen  to  eat  fresh 
meat,)  the  justice  went  out,  saying  he  would  send  the  trades- 
man a  salad  for  his  lamb.  He  sent  an  overdue  and  unpaid 
tax-bill.  Soon  after,  the  tradesman  met  the  justice  near 
this  place,  and  told  him  he  would  repay  his  kindness ;  which 
he  did.  by  hanging  the  justice  up  by  the  waistband  of  his 
breeches  to  the  butcher's  hook,  and  leaving  him  to  get  down 
as  he  could. 

TARRING  AND  FEATHERING  ORIGINALLY  A  YANKEE  TRICK. 

From  the  American  Mercury. 

This  appears  from  the  speech  of  McFingal,  the  Tory  Saga- 
more, to  the  Yankee  mob: 

"  Was  there  a  Yankee  trick  ye  knew, 
They  did  not  play  as  well  as  you  ? 
Did  they  not  lay  their  heads  together, 
And  gain  "your  art  to  tar  and  feather  ?" 

TARRING  AND  FEATHERING  LAWFUL ! 

This  appears,  by  the  authority  of  the  sentence  which  was 
pronounced  on  McFingal.  This  sentence,  be  it  remembered, 
though  seemingly  an  order  and  decree  of  a  committee,  in 
fact,  had  its  origin  in  the  brain  of  a  man  who  was  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Whether 
appointed  judge  from  this  specimen  of  his  judicial  knowledge, 
or  not,  is  not  now  in  question ;  but  let  us  hear  the  sentence 
on  McFingal,  king  of  the  Tories. 

"  Meanwhile,  beside  the  pole,  the  guard 
A  bench  of  justice  had  prepared, 
Where,  sitting  round  in  awful  sort, 
The  grand  committee  hold  the  Court ; 
While  all  the  crew  in  silent  awe, 
Wait  from  their  lips  the  lore  of  law. 
Few  moments  with  deliberation, 
They  hold  the  solemn  consultation, 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  825 

When  soon  in  judgment  all  agree, 
And  clerk  declares  the  dread  decree 

"  That  Squire  McFingal,  having  grown. 
The  vilest  Tory  in  the  town, 
And  now,  on  full  examination, 
Convicted  by  his  own  confession, 
Finding  no  token  of  repentance, 
This  Court  proceed  to  render  sentence : 
That  first,  the  mob,  a  slip-knot  single, 
Tie  round  the  neck  of  said  McFingal ; 
And  in  due  form  do  tar  him  next, 
And  feather,  as  the  law  directs  : 
Then  through  the  town  attendant  ride  him 
In  cart,  with  constable  beside  him, 
And  having  held  him  up  to  shame, 
Bring  to  the  pole,  from  whence  he  came." 

Vision  and  prediction  of  McFingal,  king  of  the  Tories, 
vthen  in  coat  of  tar  and  feathers: 

"  Tar,  yet  in  embryo  in  pine, 
Shall  run,  on  Tories'  back  to  shine ; 
Trees  rooted  fair  in  groves  of  fallows, 
Are  growing  for  our  future  gallows ; 
And  geese  unhatched,  when  plucked  in  fray, 
Shall  rue  the  feathering  of  that  day." 

In  order  to  show  that  there  may  be  two  sides  to  every 
question,  we  give  also,  the  confession  of  a  rank  Tory  of  this 
period,  which  goes  far  to  exhibit  the  origin  of  the  Lynch 
law,  in  a  somewhat  palliative  light.  "  Sam,"  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, has  never  licensed  Lynch  law,  from  the  beginning: 
but  that  its  possibility  constitutes  one  of  the  facetiae  of  his 
moods,  the  detail  of  provocations  in  this  extract  will  clearly 
show. 

CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM. 

The  following  is  copied  from  the  American  Apollo,  No.  7, 
Vol.  I,  Friday,  February  17,  1792,  printed  at  Boston,  by 
Bolknap  &  Young,  State  street,  (a  weekly  paper,  in  the  form 
of  a  pamphlet,) : 

The  Life,  Confession,  and  last  Dying  Words  of  Captain  Wil- 
liam Cunningham,  formerly  British  Provost  Marshal  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  who  was  executed  in  London,  the  Wth 
of  August.  1791. 

I,  William  Cunningham,  was  born  in  Dublin  Barracks,  in 
the  year  1738.  My  father  was  trumpeter  to  the  Blue  Dra- 
goons, and  at  the  age  of  eight  I  was  placed  with  an  officer  as 


326  HISTORICAL  AND 

his  servant,  in  which  station  I  continued  until  I  was  sixteen, 
and,  being  a  great  proficient  in  horsemanship,  was  taken  as 
an  assistant  to  the  riding-master  of  the  troops,  and  in  the 
year  1761,  was  made  sergeant  of  dragoons;  but  the  peace 
coming  the  year  after,  I  was  disbanded.  Being  bred  to  no 
profession.  I  took  up  with  a  woman  who  kept  a  gin-shop  in  a 
blind  alley,  near  the  Coal  Quay ;  but  the  house  being  searched 
for  stolen  goods,  and  my  dosy  taken  to  Newgate,  I  thought  it 
most  prudent  to  decamp.  Accordingly  I  set  off  for  the  North, 
and  arrived  at  Drogheda,  where,  in  a  few  months  after,  I 
married  the  daughter  of  an  exciseman,  by  whom  I  had 
three  sons. 

About  the  year  1772,  we  removed  to  Newry,  where  I  com- 
menced the  profession  of  a  scow-banker,  which  is  that  of 
enticing  the  mechanics  and  country  people  to  ship  themselves 
for  America ;  they  are  sold  or  obliged  to  serve  a  term  of  years 
for  their  passage.  I  embarked  at  Newry  in  the  ship  Need- 
ham,  for  New  York,  and  arrived  at  that  port  the  4th  day  of 
August,  1774,  with  some  indented  servants  I  kidnapped  in 
Ireland ;  but  these  were  liberated  in  New  York  on  account  of 
the  bad  usage  they  received  from  me  during  the  passage.  In 
that  city  I  followed  the  profession  of  breaking  horses,  and 
teaching  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  ride,  but  rendering  myself 
obnoxious  to  the  citizens  in  their  infant  struggle  for  freedom. 
I  was  obliged  to  fly  on  board  the  Asia  man-of-war,  and  from 
thence  to  Boston,  where  my  own  opposition  to  the  measures 
pursued  by  the  Americans  in  support  of  their  rights,  was  the 
first  thing  that  recommended  me  to  the  notice  of  General 
Gage,  and  when  the  war  commenced  I  was  appointed  Provost 
Marshal  to  the  royal  army,  which  placed  me  in  a  situation  to 
wreak  my  vengeance  on  the  Americans.  I  shudder  to  think 
of  the  murders  I  have  been  accessory  to,  both  with  and  with- 
out orders  from  Government,  especially  while  in  New  York—- 
during which  time  there  were  more  than  two  thousand  prison- 
3rs  starved  in  the  different  churches,  by  stopping  their 
rations,  which  I  sold. 

There  were  also  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  American 
prisoners  and  obnoxious  persons  executed,  out  of  all  which 
number  there  were  only  about  one  dozen  public  executions, 
which  chiefly  consisted  of  British  and  Hessian  deserters.  The 
mode  for  private  executions  was  th'  s  conducted :  A  guard 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  327 

was  despatched  from  the  provost,  about  half-past  twelve  at 
night,  to  the  harracks  street,  and  the  neighborhood  of  the 
upper  barracks,  to  order  the  people  to  shut  their  window 
shutters  and  to  put  out  their  lights,  forbidding  them,  at  the 
same  time,  to  presume  to  look  out  of  their  windows  and 
doors,  on  pain  of  death ;  after  which,  the  unfortunate  prison- 
ers were  conducted,  gagged,  just  behind  the  upper  barracks, 
and  hung  without  ceremony,  and  then  buried  by  the  black 
pioneer  of  the  provost. 

At  the  end  of  the  war,  I  returned  to  England  with  the 
army,  and  settled  in  Wales,  as  being  a  cheaper  place  of  living 
than  in  any  of  the  populous  cities,  but  b^ing  at  length  per- 
suaded to  go  to  London,  I  entered  so  warmly  into  the  dissi- 
pations of  that  capital,  that  I  soon  found  my  circumstances 
much  embarrassed.  To  relieve  which  I  mortgaged  my  half 
pay  to  an  army  agent,  but  that  being  soon  expended,  I  forged 
a  draft  for  three  hundred  pounds  sterling,  on  the  Board  of 
Ordnance,  but  being  detected  in  presenting  it  for  acceptance, 
I  was  apprehended,  tried,  and  convicted — and  for  that  offense 
am  here  to  suffer  an  ignominious  death. 

I  beg  the  pardon  of  all  good  Christians,  and  also  pardon 
and  forgiveness  of  God,  for  the  many  horrid  murders  I  have 
been  accessory  to. 

WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM. 

The  disastrous  defeat  of  Burgoyne,  with  the  details  and 
consequences  of  which  our  readers  are  already  sufficiently 
familiar,  had  been  immediately  preceded  by  a  regular  influx 
of  foreign  adventurers,  comprising  every  stamp  of  the  true 
Condittori,  which  at  that  time  swarmed  throughout  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  They  came  here  like  the  plagues  of  Egypt, 
with  insolent  buzzings  around  the  doors  of  Congress,  insti- 
gated by  the  too  easy  promises  of  Deane,  and  gave  occasion, 
finally,  to  one  of  the  most  bitter  letters  ever  wxitten  by  Wash- 
ington, who,  goaded,  like  some  noble  animal  by  gad-flres, 
besought  Congress  to  rid  him  of  these  endless  swarms.  De 
Kalb,  Pulaski,  Steuben,  and  the  enthusiastic  Lafayette,  were 
of  course  exceptions.  Enthusiasm  and  the  accident  of  birth, 
which  gave  him  court  influence  at  Paris,  seem  always  to  have 
die  merit  of  the  last,  than  talent — much  as  he 


828  HISTORICAL  AND 

has  been  lauded  and  almost  deified.  Nevertheless,  Washing- 
ton— the  then  representative  of  "  Sam  " — saw  his  uses,  and 
loved  him  as  an  excellent  man,  as  he  undoubtedly  was.  He 
proved  of  great  use  through  his  disinterested  interest  in  our 
cause,  in  conciliating  toward  us  and  bringing  about  our 
treaty  with  France — which,  by  the  way,  it  was  not  a  whit 
more  to  our  interest  than  than  it  should  never  have  been 
formed. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the  aid  of  foreign  officers 
had  been  thought  highly  desirable,  especially  in  the  depart- 
ments of  artillery  and  engineering,  in  which  there  was  a 
great  deficiency  of  native  skill  and  science.  It  was  one  part 
of  Deane's  commission  to  engage  a  few  officers  of  this 
description,  a  matter  in  which  he  had  gone  a  good  deal 
beyond  his  instructions.  Beset  with  endless  solicitations,  to 
which  the  fear  of  giving  offense,  and  the  hope  of  securing 
influence,  induced  him  too  often  to  yield,  he  had  sent  out  not 
less  than  fifty  officers  of  all  ranks,  to  whom  he  had  made 
extravagant  promises  of  promotion,  which  occasioned  great 
discontent  among  the  native  officers,  and  no  Tttle  embarrass- 
ment to  Congress.  Greene,  Sullivan,  and  Knox,  in  a  joint 
letter,  a  few  weeks  before  Washington's  visit  to  Congress, 
had  threatened  to  resign  if  a  certain  M.  Du  Coudray  were 
promoted  to  the  command  of  the  artillery,  with  the  rank  of 
major  general,  agreeably  to  a  contract  which  Deane  had 
signed  with  him,  in  consideration  of  certain  supplies  which 
he  had  furnished.  Congress,  with  a  just  sense  of  its  dignity, 
voted  this  letter  of  the  generals  "an  attempt  to  influence 
their  decision,  an  invasion  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and 
indicating  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  justice  of  Congress," 
for  which  the  writers  were  required  to  make  an  apology. 
Having  consented  to  serve  for  the  present  as  a  volunteer, 
with  a  merely  nominal  rank,  Du  Coudray  was  drowned  shortly 
after  in  crossing  the  Schuylkill. 

There  was,  indeed,  among  the  American  officers  excessive 
jealousy  and  great  heart-burnings  on  the  subject  of  rank, 
precedence  and  command,  not  only  as  to  foreigners,  but  as  to 
each  other.  Congress  ^professed  to  be  governed  in  its  promo- 
tions by  the  complex  considerations  of  former  rank,  merito- 
rious service,  and  the  number  of  troops  raised  by  the  States 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  329 

to  which  the  officers  respectively  belonged.  But  the  officers 
imagined,  and  not  always  without  reason,  that  intrigue  ami 
personal  favor  had  quite  as  much  influence. 

Among  the  contracts  made  by  Deane  was  one  with  Du 
Portail,  La  Kadidre,  and  Du  Govion,  three  engineer  officers 
of  merit,  recommended  by  the  French  court,  who  were  now 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  engineer  department,  thus  com- 
pleting the  organization  of  the  new  army.  Kosciusko,  whose 
entry  of  the  service  has  been  already  mentioned,  was  appointed 
engineer  for  the  northern  department. 

The  Count  Pulaski,  who  had  already  gained  distinction  in 
Europe  by  his  attempts  to  resist  the  first  partition  of  Poland, 
had  just  arrived  in  America,  and  had  offered  his  services  to 
Congress. 

The  foreign  officers  above  named  were  persons  of  merit ; 
but  too  large  a  proportion  of  those  who  came  to  seek  com- 
missions in  America,  whether  sent  by  Deane,  or  adventurers 
on  their  own  account,  even  some  who  brought  high  recom- 
mendations, were  remarkable  fcr  nothing  but  extravagant  self- 
conceit,  and  boundless  demands  for  rank,  command,  and  pay. 

Of  a  very  different  character  was  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette, 
a  youth  of  nineteen,  belonging  to  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
families  of  France,  who  had  just  arrived  in  America,  and 
whom  General  Washington  now  met  at  Philadelphia  for  the 
first  time.  Like  all  other  French  nobles  of  that  day,  he  had 
received  a  military  education,  and  held  a  commission  in  the 
French  army.  In  garrison  at  Metz,  he  had  been  present  at 
an  entertainment  given  by  the  governor  of  that  city  to  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  the  British  king,  and  on  that 
occasion,  from  the  duke's  lips,  he  first  heard  the  story  of  the 
American  rebellion.  His  youthful  fancy  was  fired  by  the 
idea  of  this  transatlantic  struggle  for  liberty,  and,  though 
master  of  an  ample  fortune,  and  married  to  a  wife  whom  he 
tenderly  loved,  he  resolved  at  once  to  adventure  in  it.  For 
that  purpose  he  opened  a  communication  with  Deane.  His 
intention  becoming  known,  the  French  court,  which  still  kept 
up  the  forms  of  neutrality,  forbade  him  to  go.  But  he 
secretly  purchased  a  ship,  which  Deane  loaded  with  military 
stores,  and  set  sail  at  a  moment  when  the  news  of  the  loss 
of  New  York  and  the  retreat  through  the  Jerseys  made  most 
foreigners  despair  of  the  American  cause.  The  French  court 
28* 


330  HISTORICAL  AND 

sent  orders  to  the  West  Indies  to  intercept  him  ;  but  he  sailed 
directly  for  the  United  States,  arrived  in  safety,  presented 
himself  to  Congress,  and  offered  to  S^rve  as  a  volunteer, 
without  pay.  Admiring  his  disinterestedness  not  less  than 
his  zeal,  and  not  uninfluenced  by  his  rank  and  connections, 
Congress  gave  him  the  commission  of  major  general,  which 
Dean  had  promised ;  but,  for  the  present,  content  with  the 
rank  without  any  command,  he  entered  the  military  family 
of  Washington,  for  whom  he  soon  contracted  a  warm  and 
lasting  friendship,  which  Washington  as  warmly  returned. 
La  Fayette  brought  with  him  eleven  other  officers ;  among 
them  the  Baron  De  Kalb,  a  German  veteran,  presently  com- 
missioned as  major  general. 

The  unsuccessful  battles  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown, 
which  soon  followed,  brought  into  rather  singular  contrast. 
the  military  reputations  of  Washington  and  the  English 
renegade,  Gates,  who  commanded  at  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne.  The  terrible  winter  of  1777,  had  been  passed  by 
Washington's  miserable  army,  at  Valley  Forge,  amidst  the 
extremes  of  suffering,  from  privations  of  every  kind,  when 
there  at  once  appears  to  be  a  formidable  cabal  on  hand,  for 
supplanting  him,  in  favor  of  the  mediocre  adventurer,  Gates. 
Here  is  Hildreth's  account  of  this  infamous  cabal. 

While  Washington  was  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost,  to 
preserve  the  army  from  total  disorganization,  a  project  was 
on  foot  to  remove  him  from  the  chief  command.  Several 
persons,  conspicuous  in  Congress  and  the  army,  were  more 
or  less  concerned  in  this  movement ;  but  most  of  the  inform- 
ation respecting  it,  has  been  carefully  suppressed,  and  its 
history  is  involved  in  some  obscurity.  Every  biographer  has 
been  very  anxious  to  shield  his  special  hero,  from  the  charge 
of  participation  in  this  affair,  indignantly  stigmatized,  Vy 
most  writers,  as  a  base  intrigue.  Yet  doubts,  at  that  time, 
as  to  Washington's  fitness  for  the  chief  command,  though 
they  might  evince  prejudice  or  a  lack  of  sound  judgment, 
do  not  necessarily  imply  either  selfish  ends  or  a  malicious 
disposition.  The  Washington  of  that  day  was  not  Washing- 
ton as  we  know  him,  tried  and  proved  by  twenty  years  of 
the  most  disinterested  and  most  successful  public  services. 
As  yet,  he  had  been  in  command  but  little  more  than  two 
years,  during  which,  he  had  suffered,  with  some  slight 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  331 

exceptions,  a  continued  series  of  losses  and  defeats.  He  had 
recovered  Boston,  to  be  sure,  but  had  lost  New  York,  New- 
port, and  Philadelphia.  He  had  been  completely  successful 
at  Trenton,  and  partially  so  at  Princeton,  but  had  been 
beaten,  with  heavy  loss,  on  Long  Island  and  at  Fort  Wash- 
ington, and  lately,  in  two  pitched  battles,  on  ground  of  his 
own  choosing,  at  Brandywine  and  G-ermantown.  What  a 
contrast  to  the  battles  of  Behmis'  Hights,  and  the  capture 
of  Burgoyne's  whole  army !  Want  of  success,  and  sectional 
and  personal  prejudices,  had  created  a  party  in  Congress 
against  Schuyler  and  against  Sullivan.  Could  Washington 
escape  the  common  fate  of  those  who  lose  ?  Richard  Henry 
Lee  and  Samuel  Adams  seem  to  have  been  the  leaders  of  a 
party  gradually  formed  in  Congress,  and  for  some  time 
strong  enough  to  exercise  a  material  influence  on  its  action, 
which  ascribed  to  the  commander-in-chief  a  lack  of  vigor 
and  energy,  and  a  system  of  favoritism  deleterious  to  the 
public  service.  The  Pennsylvanians  were  much  annoyed  at 
the  loss  of  Philadelphia ;  and  several  leading  persons  in  that 
State,  seem  to  have  co-operated  with  this  party,  especially 
Mifflin — a  plausible,  judicious,  energetic,  ambitious  man, 
very  popular  and  very  influential,  but  of  whose  recent  man- 
agement of  the  quarter-master's  department,  Washington 
had  loudly  complained.  Nor  were  other. malcontents  want- 
ing in  the  army.  The  marked  confidence  which  Washington 
reposed  in  Greene,  gave  offense  to  some ;  others  had  purposes 
of  their  own  to  serve.  Conway  aspired  to  the  office  of 
inspector-general,  the  establishment  of  which  he  had  sug- 
gested ;  and,  not  finding  his  pretensions  favored  by  Wash- 
ington, he  indulged  in  very  free  criticisms  on  the  state  of 
the  troops,  and  the  incapacity  of  the  commander-in-chief. 
Gates,  who  might  aspire,  since  his  sucesses  at  the  north,  to 
the  most  elevated  station,  should  the  post  of  commander-in- 
chief  become  vacant,  had  lately  behaved  toward  Washington 
with  marked  coldness  and  neglect.  A  correspondence,  highly 
derogatory  to  Washington's  military  character,  was  carried 
on  between  Gates,  Mifflin,  and  Conway.  By  the  indiscretion 
of  the  youthful  Wilkinson,  who  talked  rather  too  freely  over 
his  cups,  at  Sterling's  quarters,  when  on  his  way  to  Congress 
with  the  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender,  a  pointed  sentence 
from  one  of  Con  way's  letters  to  Gates  leaked  out,  and  was 


332  HISTORICAL  AND 

communicated  by  Sterling  to  Washington,  who  inclosed  it  in 
a  note  to  Con  way.  Suspecting  that  Hamilton,  during  his 
visit  to  Albany,  had,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  stealingly  copied  " 
Conway 's  letter,  Gates  demanded  to  know,  in  very  high 
terms,  by  what  breach*  of  confidence  Washington  had  become 
possessed  of  the  extract.  When  Wilkinson  was  given  as  the 
authority,  he  changed  his  ground,  and,  in  an  elaborate  letter, 
alleged  that  the  pretended  extract  was  a  forgery,  and  that 
Conway  had  written  nothing  of  the  sort.  Conway 's  letter, 
however,  was  not  produced ;  and  to  Washington's  sarcastic 
allusion  to  that  fact,  and  to  the  manifest  discrepancy  between 
his  first  and  second  letters,  Grates,  anxious  to  hush  up  the 
matter,  made  a  very  tame  and  submissive  answer. 

In  the  composition  of  the  new  Board  of  war,  the  influence 
of  the  party  opposed  to  Washington  became  very  apparent. 
Gates  was  made  president  of  it,  and  Mifflin  a  member.  The 
other  members  were  Pickering,  who  resigned  for  that  pur- 
pose his  office  of  adjutant-general,  Joseph  Trumbull,  the  late 
commissary-general,  and  Richard  Peters,  secretary  of  the  old 
Board.  Harrison,  Washington's  secretary,  was  elected,  but 
declined.  In  spite  of  Washington's  earnest  remonstrances, 
Conway,  promoted  over  the  heads  of  all  the  brigadiers  to  the 
rank  of  major-general,  was  made  inspector  of  the  armies  of 
the  United  States.  An  attempt  was  also  made,  but  without 
success,  to  gain  over  La  Fayette,  by  offering  him  the  com- 
mand of  an  expedition  against  Canada.  Beside  these  open 
measures,  calculated  to  disgust  Washington,  and  to  cause 
him  to  resign,  secret  intrigues  were  resorted  to,  of  a  very  dis- 
reputable character.  Anonymous  letters,  criticising  Wash- 
ington's conduct  of  the  war,  were  addressed  to  Patrick  Henry, 
governor  of  Virginia,  and  to  Laurens,  president  of  Congress ; 
but  these  gentlemen,  in  the  true  spirit  of  honorable  candor, 
at  once  inclosed  these  letters  to  Washington.  One  of  them, 
Washington  ascribed  to  Dr.  Eush. 

When  these  intrigues  became  known  in  the  army,  they 
produced  among  the  officers  a  great  burst  of  indignation. 
Nor  did  the  idea  of  a  new  commander-in-chief  find  any  sup- 
port in  the  State  Legislatures  or  the  public  mind.  In  spite 
of  losses,  the  inevitable  result  of  insufficient  means,  Wash- 
ington was  firmly  rooted  in  the  respect  and  affection  of  the 
soldiers  and  the  people,  who  had  not  failed  tc  perceive  and 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  333 

to  appreciate  hie  incomparable  qualifications  for  the  station 
which  he  held.  Seeing  how  strongly  the  country  and  the 
army  were  against  them,  most  of  the  parties  concerned  in 
the  late  project  for  a  new  commander-in-chief  denied  or  con- 
cealed as  much  as  possible,  their  participation  in  it ;  and  the 
result  served  at  once  to  evince  and  to  strengthen  the  hold  of 
Washington  on  the  general  confidence.  (1778.) 

Being  presently  ordered  to  the  northern  department,  Con- 
way  sent  a  letter  to  Congress,  in  which  he  complained  of  ill- 
treatment  in  being  thus  banished  from  the  scene  of  action, 
and  offered  to  resign.  Very  contrary  to  his  intention,  he 
was  taken  at  his  word.  All  his  attempts  to  get  the  vote 
reconsidered  were  in  vain.  He  was  wounded  soon  after  in  a 
duel  with  General  Cadwallader,  who  had  accused  him  of  cow- 
ardice at  the  battle  of  Brandy  wine ;  and,  supposing  himself 
near  his  end,  he  sent  a  humble  apology  to  Washington.  On 
his  recovery  he  returned  to  France. 

Gates  was  sent  to  the  Highlands  to  superintend  the  new 
fortifications  to  be  erected  there.  Both  he  and  Mifflin  ceased 
to  act  as  members  of  the  Board  of  War,  and  their  place  on 
it  was  ultimately  supplied  by  two  members  of  Congress, 
appointed  to  serve  for  short  periods. 

Mifflin  obtained  leave  to  join  the  army  again ;  but  the 
other  officers,  not  liking  this  intrusion  on  the  part  of  one 
who  had  never  held  any  command  in  the  line,  got  up  a 
charge  against  him,  which  was  referred  to  a  court  of  inquiry, 
of  having  mismanaged  the  quarter-master's  department. 
The  accounts  and  business  of  that  department  had  been  left 
in  a  good  deal  of  confusion ;  but  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  serious  ground  of  charge  against  Mifflin.  Finding  him- 
self so  unpopular  with  the  officers,  he  presently  resigned  his 
commission  of  major-general ;  but  he  continued  to  take  an 
active  and  leading  part  in  affairs,  being  presently  appointed 
a  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania. 

The  more  Congress  reflected  on  the  terms  of  Burgoyne's 
capitulation,  the  less  satisfactory  those  terms  appeared.  The 
troops  of  that  army,  transported  to  England,  and  placed  in 
garrison  there,  would  relieve  just  as  many  other  men  for 
service  in  America.  Some  cavils  had  begun  to  be  raised 
about  an  alleged  deficiency  of  cartouch-boxes  surrendered, 
when  an  impatient  letter  from  Burgoyne  furnished  a  much 


834  HISTORICAL  AND 

more  plausible  pretext.  The  British  general  complained  that 
proper  accommodations  had  not  been  furnished  to  his  officers, 
and,  in  the  vexation  of  the  moment,  incautiously  alleged 
that  the  Americans  had  broken  the  convention.  Catching 
eagerly  at  this  hasty  expression,  which  Congress  chose  to  con- 
strue into  a  repudialion  of  the  treaty  by  the  very  officer  who 
had  made  it,  it  was  resolved  to  suspend  the  embarkation  of 
the  troops  "  till  a  distinct  and  explicit  ratification  of  the  con- 
vention of  Saratoga  shall  be  properly  notified  by  the  court 
of  Great  Britain."  Nor  could  any  remonstrances  or  expla- 
nations on  the  part  of  Burgoyne,  obtain  any  change  or  modi- 
fication in  a  policy  founded,  indeed,  more  on  considerations  of 
interest  than  of  honor,  and  for  which  Burgoyne's  letter  had 
but  served  as  a  pretext.  The  transports  which  had  arrived 
at  Boston  were  ordered  to  depart.  Burgoyne  only,  with  one 
or  two  attendants,  was  suffered  to  go  to  England,  on  parole. 
Such  was  the  end  of  this  famous  triumph,  the  capture  of 
Burgoyne,  and  of  the  cabal  to  which  it  gave  a  head,  which,  had 
it  proved  successful,  would  have  caused  the  first  important 
triumph  of  "  Sam"  to  have  been  the  ruin  of  his  people. 
Throwing  their  destinies  into  the  hands  of  two  military 
adventurers,  as  it  would  have  done,  it  requires  no  prophet  to 
foresee  what  disastrous  consequences  must  have  followed. 
Even  so  late  as  this  year,  1778,  we  find  the  following  signifi- 
cant letter  from  Washington,  which  affords  a  clear  glimpse 
of  the  trials  through  which  this  heroic  man  was  compelled  to 
pass,  in  keeping  together  our  unfortunate  army  : — 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  General  Washington,  to  Congress, 
dated  Head  Quarters,  Springfield,  20th  Jime,  1780. 

"  The  honorable  the  committee  will  have  informed  Con- 
gress, from  time  to  time,  of  the  measures  which  have  been 
judged  essential  to  be  adopted  for  co-operating  with  the  ar- 
mament expected  from  France,  and  of  their  requisitions  to 
to  the  States  in  consequence.  What  the  result  of  these  has 
been  I  cannot  determine,  to  my  great  anxiety,  as  no  answers 
on  the  subject  of  them  have  been  yet  received.  The  period 
is  come  when  we  have  every  reason  to  expect  the  fleet  will 
arrive — and  yet,  for  want  of  this  point  of  primary  conse- 
quence, it  is  impossible  for  me  to  form  or  fix  on  a  system  of 
co-operation — I  have  no  basis  to  act  upon — and,  of  course, 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  335 

were  this  generous  succour  of  our  ally  to  arrive,  I  should 
2ind  myself  in  the  most  awkward,  embarrassing  and  painful 
situation.  The  general  and  the  admiral,  from  the  relation 
in  which  I  stand,  as  soon  as  they  approach  our  coast,  will  re- 
quire of  me  a  plan  of  the  measures  to  be  pursued ;  and  these 
ought,  of  right,  to  be  prepared ;  but  circumstanced  as  I  am, 
I  cannot  give  them  conjectures.  From  these  considerations, 
I  have  suggested  to  the  committee,  by  a  letter  I  had  the 
honor  of  addressing  them  yesterday,  the  indispensable  neces- 
sity of  their  writing  again  to  the  States,  urging  them  to  give 
immediate  and  precise  information  of  the  measures  they 
have  taken  and  of  the  result.  The  interest  of  the  States, 
the  honor  and  reputation  of  our  councils,  the  justice  and 
gratitude  due  our  allies,  a  regard  to  myself — all  require  that 
I  should,  "without  delay,  be  enabled  to  ascertain  and  inform 
them  what  we  can,  or  cannot  undertake.  There  is  a  point 
which  ought  now  to  be  determined,  on  which  the  success  of 
all  our  future  operations  may  depend,  which  for  want  of 
knowing  our  prospects,  I  am  altogether  at  a  loss  what  to  do 
in.  For  fear  of  involving  the  fleet  and  army  of  our  allies 
in  circumstances  which,  if  not  seconded  by  us,  would  expose 
them  to  material  inconvenience  and  hazard,  I  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  suspend  it,  and  the  delay  may  be  fatal  to  our 
hopes. 

Beside  the  embarrassments  I  have  mentioned  above,  and 
on  former  occasions,  there  is  another  of  a  very  painful  and 
humiliating  nature.  We  have  no  shirts,  from  the  best  in- 
quiry I  can  make,  to  distribute  to  the  troops,  when  the  whole 
are  in  great  want,  and  when  a  great  part  of  them  are  abso- 
lutely destitute  of  any  at  all.  Their  situation  too  with 
respect  to  summer  overalls,  I  fear,  is  not  likely  to  be  much 
better.  There  are  a  great  many  on  hand,  it  is  said,  in 
Springfield,  but  so  indifferent  in  their  quality  as  to  be 
scarcely  worth  the  expense  of  transportation  and  delivery. 
For  the  troops  to  be  without  clothing  at  any  time,  is  highly 
injurious  to  the  service  and  distressing  to  our  feelings;  but 
the  want  will  be  more  peculiarly  mortifying  when  they  come 
to  act  with  those  of  our  allies.  If  it  is  possible,  I  have  no 
doubt  immediate  measures  will  be  taken  to  relieve  their  dis- 
tress. It  is  also  most  sincerely  to  be  wished  that  there  could 
be  some  supplies  of  clothing  furnished  for  the  officers. 


336  HISTORICAL  AND 

There  are  a  great  many  whose  condition  is  really  miserable 
still,  and  in  some  instances  it  is  the  case  with  almost  whole 
State  lines.  It  would  be  well  for  their  own  sakes,  and  for 
the  public  good,  if  they  could  be  furnished.  When  our 
friends  come  to  co-operate  with  us,  they  will  not  be  able  to 
go  on  the  common  routine  of  duty,  and  if  they  should,  they 
must  be  held,  from  their  appearance,  in  low  estimation. 

What  a  commentary  does  this  manly  letter  furnish  upon 
the  petty  and  venal  injustice  of  his  cotemporary  foes,  toward 
one  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  characters  of  history  ! 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Sketch  of  Colonel  Daniel  Morgan — The  Non-resistant  Principles  of  the 
Quakers — Its  consequences  about  these  times. 

IT  is  impossible  for  us  to  continue  a  detailed  account  of  the 
succeeding  Revolutionary  events.  These  are  too  familiar  to 
the  gene.al  reader,  to  render  their  relation  necessary,  even 
if  our  space  admitted  of  such  dilation.  Our  ohject  has  been, 
to  reproduce  such  characteristic  memorials  of  the  prominent 
events  in  the  history  of  "  Sam,"  as — being  likely,  from  their 
antiquity,  to  be  lost — renew  also,  by  their  cotemporary  fresh- 
ness, our  memory  of  the  true  spirit  of  that  early  time,  which 
is  likely  to  prove  so  necessary  to  this  degenerate  period. 
The  following  sketch  of  that  noble  old  patriarch  of  American 
heroes,  Daniel  Morgan,  has  an  unction  in  it,  which  might 
serve  to  regenerate  a  thousand  modern  Tories. 

DANIEL    MORGAN. 

From  the  "  Custis  Recollections  and  Private  Memoirs  of  the  Life 
and  Character  of  Washington." 

The  outposts  of  the  two  armies  were  very  near  to  each 
other,  when  the  American  commander,  desirous  of  obtaining 
particular  information  respecting  the  positions  of  his  adver- 
sary, summoned  the  famed  leader  of  the  riflemen,  Colonel 
Daniel  Morgan,  to  headquarters. 

It  was  night,  and  the  chief  was  alone.  After  his  usual 
polite,  yet  reserved  and  dignified  salutation,  Washington 
remarked:  "I  have  sent  for  you,  Colonel  Morgan,  to  intrust 
to  your  courage  and  sagacity,  a  reconnoiter  of  the  enemy's 
lines,  with  a  view  to  your  ascertaining  correctly,  the  position 
29  337 


338  HISTORICAL  AND 

of  their  newly-constructed  redoubts  ;  also  of  the  encampments 
of  the  British  troops  that  have  lately  arrived,  and  those  of 
their  Hessian  auxiliaries.  Select,  sir,  an  officer,  a  non-com- 
missioned officer,  and  about  twenty  picked  men,  and,  under 
cover  of  the  night,  proceed,  but  with  all  possible  caution,  get 
as  near  as  you  can,  and  learn  all  you  can,  and  by  day  dawn 
retire,  and  make  your  report  to  headquarters.  But  mark 
me,  Colonel  Morgan,  mark  me  well,  on  no  account  whatever, 
are  you  to  bring  on  any  skirmishing  with  the  enemy;  if 
discovered,  make  a  speedy  retreat;  let  nothing  induce  you 
to  fire  a  single  shot ;  I  repeat,  sir,  that  no  force  of  circum- 
stances will  excuse  the  discharge  of  a  single  rifle  on  your 
part,  and  for  the  extreme  preciseness  of  these  orders,  permit 
me  to  say,  that  I  have  my  reasons."  Filling  two  glasses  with 
wine,  the  general  continued:  "And  now,  Colonel  Morgan, 
we  will  drink  a  good  night,  and  success  to  your  enterprise." 
Morgan  quaffed  the  wine,  smacked  his  lips,  and  assuring  his 
excellency  that  his  orders  should  be  punctually  obeyed,  left 
the  tent  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

Charmed  at  being  chosen  as  the  executive  officer  of  a 
daring  enterprise,  the  leader  of  the  woodsmen  repaired  to 
his  quarters,  and  calling  for  Gabriel  Long,  his  favorite  cap- 
tain, ordered  him  to  detach  a  sergeant  and  twenty  prime 
fellows,  who  being  mustered,  and  ordered  to  lay  on  their 
arms,  ready  at  a  moment's  warning,  Morgan  and  Long 
stretched  their  manly  forms  before  the  watch-fire,  to  await  the 
going  down  of  the  moon,  the  signal  for  departure. 

A  little  after  midnight,  and  while  the  rays  of  the  setting 
moon  still  faintly  glimmered  in  the  western  horizon,  "  Up, 
sergeant,"  cried  Long,  "stir  up  your  men,"  and  twenty  ath- 
letic figures  were  upon  their  feet  in  a  moment.  "Indian 
file,  march,"  and  away  all  sprung,  with  the  quick,  yet  light 
and  stealthy  step  of  the  woodsmen.  They  reached  the 
enemy's  lines,  crawled  up  so  close  to  the  pickets  of  the  Hes- 
sians, as  to  inhale  the  odor  of  their  pipes,  discovered,  by  the 
newly  turned-up  earth,  the  positions  of  the  redoubts,  and  by 
the  numerous  tents  that  dotted  the  field  for  "many  a  rood 
around,"  and  shone  dimly  amid  the  night  haze,  the  encamp- 
ments of  the  British  and  German  reinforcements,  and,  in 
short,  performed  their  perilous  duty  without  the  slightest 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  3-"9 

discovery ;  and  pleased,  prepared  to  retire,  just  as  chanticleer, 
from  a  neighboring  farmhouse,  was  "bidding  salutation  to 
the  morn." 

The  adventurous  party  reached  a  small  eminence,  at  some 
distance  from  the  British  camp,  and  commanding  an  exten- 
sive prospect  over  the  adjoining  country.  Here  Morgan 
halted,  to  give  his  men  a  little  rest,  before  taking  up  his 
line  of  march  for  the  American  outposts.  Scarcely  had  they 
thrown  themselves  on  the  grass,  when  they  perceived,  issuing 
from  the  enemy's  advanced  pickets,  a  body  of  horse,  com- 
manded by  an  officer,  and  proceeding  along  the  road  that 
led  directly  by  the  spot  where  the  riflemen  had  halted.  No 
spot  could  be  better  chosen  for  an  ambuscade,  for  there  were 
rocks  and  ravines,  and  also  scrubby  oaks,  that  grew  thickly 
on  the  eminence  by  which  the  road  we  have  just  mentioned, 
passed,  at  not  exceeding  a  hundred  yards. 

"  Down,  boys,  down,"  cried  Morgan,  as  the  horse  approached, 
nor  did  the  clansmen  of  the  Black  llhoderick,  disappear  more 
promptly  amid  their  native  heather,  than  did  Morgan's 
woodsmen  in  the  present  instance,  each  to  his  tree  or  rock. 
"  Lie  close  there,  my  lads,  till  we  see  what  these  fellows  are 
about." 

Meantime,  the  horsemen  had  gained  the  hight,  and  the 
officer,  dropping  the  rein  on  his  charger's  neck,  with  a  spy- 
glass reconnoitered  the  American  lines.  The  troops  closed 
up  their  files,  and  were  either  cherishing  the  noble  animals 
they  rode,  adjusting  their  equipments,  or  gazing  upon  the 
surrounding  scenery,  now  fast  brightening  in  the  beams  of  a 
rising  sun. 

Morgan  looked  at  Long,  and  Long  upon  his  superior, 
while  the  riflemen,  with  panting  chests  and  sparkling  eyes, 
were  only  awaiting  the  signal  from  their  officers,  "  to  let  the 
ruin  fly." 

At  length,  the  martial  ardor  of  Morgan  overcame  his 
prudence  and  sense  of  military  subordination.  Forgetful  of 
consequences,  reckless  of  everything  but  his  enemy,  now 
within  his  grasp,  he  waved  his  hand,  and  loud  and  sharp 
rang  the  report  of  the  rifles  amid  the  surrounding  echoes. 
At  pointblank  distance,  the  certain  and  deadly  aim  of  the 
Hunting  Shirts  of  the  revolutionary  army  is  too  well  known 
to  history  to  need  remark  at  this  time  of  day.  In  this 


340  HISTORICAL  AND 

instance  we  have  to  record,  the  effects  of  the  fire  of  the 
riflemen  were  tremendous.  Of  the  horsemen,  some  had 
fallen  to  rise  no  more,  while  their  liberated  chargers  rushed 
wildly  over  the  adjoining  plain  ;  others  wounded,  hut  entangled 
with  their  stirrups,  were  dragged  by  the  furious  animals 
expiringly  along ;  while  the  very  few  who  were  unscathed, 
spurred  hard  to  regain  the  shelter  of  the  British  lines. 

While  the  smoke  yet  canopied  the  scene  of  slaughter,  and 
the  picturesque  forms  of  the  woodsmen  appeared  among  the 
foliage,  as  they  were  reloading  their  pieces,  the  colossal 
figure  of  Morgan  stood  apart.  He  seemed  the  very  genius 
of  war,  as  gloomily  he  contemplated  the  havoc  his  order 
had  made.  He  spoke  not,  he  moved  not,  but  looked  as  one 
absorbed  in  an  intensity  of  thought.  The  martial  shout, 
with  which  he  was  wont  to  cheer  his  comrades  in  the  hour 
of  combat,  was  hushed,  the  shell  *  from  which  he  had  blown 
full  many  a  note  of  battle  and  of  triumph,  on  the  fields  of 
Saratoga,  hung  idly  by  his  side ;  no  order  was  given  to  spoil 
the  slain  ;  the  arms  and  equipments  for  which  there  was 
always  a  bounty  from  Congress,  the  shirts,  for  which  there 
was  so  much  need  in  that,  the  sorest  period  of  our  country's 
privation,  all,  all  were  abandoned,  as  with  an  abstracted  air, 
and  a  voice  struggling  for  utterance,  Morgan  suddenly  turn- 
ing to  his  captain,  exclaimed:  "  Long,  to  the  camp,  march." 
The  favorite  captain  obeyed,  the  riflemen  with  trailed  arms 
fell  into  file,  and  Long  and  his  party  soon  disappeared,  but 
not  before  the  hardy  fellows  had  exchanged  opinions  on  the 
strange  termination  of  the  late  affair.  And  they  agreed, 
nem.  con.,  that  their  colonel  was  tricked,  (conjured,)  or 
assuredly,  after  such  a  fire  as  they  had  just  given  the  enemy, 
such  an  emptying  of  saddles,  and  such  a  squandering  of  the 
troopers,  he  would  not  have  ordered  his  poor  rifle  boys  from 
the  field,  without  so  much  as  a  few  shirts  or  pairs  of  stockings 

0  Morgan's  riflemen  were  generally  in  the  advance,  skirmishing  with 
the  light  troops  of  the  enemy,  or  annoying  his  flanks ;  the  regiment  was 
thus  much  divided  into  detachments,  and  dispersed  over  a  very  wide  field 
of  action.  Morgan  was  in  the  habit  of  using  a  conch-shell  frequently, 
during  the  heat  of  the  battle,  with  which  he  would  blow  a  loud  and  war- 
like blast.  This,  he  said,  was  to  inform  his  boys  that  he  was  still  alive, 
and  from  many  parts  of  the  field  was  beholding  their  prowess ;  and  like 
the  celebrated  sea-warrior  of  another  hemisphere's  last  signal,  was 
expecting  that  "  every  man  would  do  his  duty." 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS. 

being  divided  among  them.  "  Yes,"  said  a  tall,  lean,  and 
swarthy-looking  fellow,  an  Indian  hunter,  from  the  frontier, 
as  he  carefully  placed  his  moccasined  feet  in  the  footprints 
of  his  file  leader,  "  Yes,  my  lads,  it  stands  to  reason,  our 
colonel  is  tricked." 

Morgan  followed  slowly  on  the  trail  of  his  men.  The  full 
force  of  his  military  guilt  had  rushed  upon  his  mind,  even 
before  the  reports  of  his  rifles  had  ceased  to  echo  in  the 
neighboring  forests.  He  became  more  and  more  convinced 
of  the  enormity  of  his  offense,  as  with  dull  and  measured 
strides,  he  pursued  his  solitary  way,  and  thus  he  soliloquized : 

"  Well,  Daniel  Morgan,  you  have  done  for  yourself.  Broke, 
sir,  broke  to  a  certainty.  You  may  go  home,  sir,  to  the 
plow ;  your  sword  will  be  of  no  further  use  to  you.  Broke, 
sir,  nothing  can  save  you ;  and  there  is  an  end  of  Colonel 
Morgan.  Fool,  fool — by  a  single  act  of  madness,  thus  to 
destroy  the  earnings  of  so  many  toils,  and  many  a  hard- 
fought  battle.  You  are  broke,  sir,  and  there  is  an  end  of 
Colonel  Morgan." 

To  disturb  this  reverie,  there  suddenly  appeared  at  full 
speed,  the  aid-de-camp,  the  Mercury  of  the  field,  who,  reining 
up,  accosted  the  colonel  with,  "  I  am  ordered,  Colonel  Morgan, 
to  ascertain  whether  the  firing  jus,t  now  heard,  proceeded  from 
your  detachment."  "  It  did  sir,"  replied  Morgan,  sourly. 
"  Then,  colonel,"  continued  the  aid,  "  I  am  further  ordered 
to  require  your  immediate  attendance  upon  his  excellency, 
who  is  approaching."  Morgan  bowed,  and  the  aid,  wheeling 
his  charger,  galloped  back  to  rejoin  his  chief. 

The  gleams  of  the  morning  sun  upon  the  sabres  of  the 
horse  guard,  announced  the  arrival  of  the  dreaded  comman- 
der— that  being  who  inspired  with  a  degree  of  awe,  evory 
one  who  approached  him.  With  a  stern,  yet  dignified  compo- 
sure, Washington  addressed  the  military  culprit  :  "Can  it  bo 
possible,  Colonel  Morgan,  that  my  aid-de-camp  has  informed 
me  aright?  Can  it  be  possible,  after  the  orders  you  re- 
ceived last  evening,  that  the  firing  we  have  heard  proceeded 
from  your  detachment?  Surely,  sir,  my  orders  were  so 
explicit  as  not  to  be  easily  misunderstood."  Morgan  was 
brave,  but  it  has  boen  often,  and  justly  too,  observed,  that 
the  man  never  was  born  of  a  woman,  who  could  approach  the 
great  Washington,  and  not  feel  a  degree  of  awe  and  veneration 
29* 


342  HISTORICAL  AND 

for  his  presence.  Morgan  quailed  for  a  moment  before 
the  stern,  yet  just  displeasure  of  his  chief,  till  arousing  all 
his  energies  to  the  effort,  he  uncovered  and  replied :  "  Your 
excellency's  orders  were  perfectly  well  understood,  and  agree- 
ably to  the  same,  I  proceeded  with  a  select  party  to  reconnoiter 
the  enemy's  lines  by  night.  We  succeeded  even  beyond  our 
expectations,  and  I  was  returning  to  headquarters  to  make 
my  report,  when,  having  halted  a  few  minutes  to  rest  the 
men,  we  discovered  a  party  of  horse  coming  out  from  the 
enemy's  lines.  They  came  up  immediately  to  the  spot  where 
we  lay  concealed  in  the  brushwood.  There  they  halted,  and 
gathered  up  together  like  a  flock  of  partridges,  affording  me 
so  tempting  an  opportunity  of  annoying  my  enemy,  that, 
may  it  please  your  excellency,  flesh  and  blood  could  not 
refrain." 

On  this  rough,  yet  frank,  bold,  and  manly  explanation,  a 
smile  was  observed  to  pass  over  the  countenances  of  several 
of  the  general's  suite.  The  chief  remained  unmoved,  when, 
waving  his  hand,  he  continued :  "  Colonel  Morgan,  you  will 
retire  to  your  quarters,  there  to  await  further  orders."  Mor- 
gan bowed,  and  the  military  cortege  rode  on  to  the  inspection 
of  the  outposts. 

Arrived  at  his  quarters^  Morgan  threw  himself  upon  his 
hard  couch,  and  gave  himself  up  to  reflections  upon  the 
events  which  had  so  lately  and  so  rapidly  succeeded  each 
other.  He  was  aware  that  he  had  sinned  past  all  hopes  of 
forgiveness.  Within  twenty-four  hours  he  had  fallen  from 
the  command  of  a  regiment,  and  being  an  especial  favorite 
with  the  general,  to  be,  what  ? — a  disgraced  and  broken  sol- 
dier. Condemned  to  retire  from  scenes  of  glory,  the  darling 
passions  of  his  heart — forever  to  abandon  the  "fair  fields  of 
fighting  men/'  and  in  obscurity  to  drag  out  the  remnant  of  a 
wretched  existence,  neglected  and  forgotten.  And  then  his 
rank,  so  hardly,  so  nobly  won,  with  all  his  "  blushing  honors," 
acquired  in  the  march  across  the  frozen  wilderness  of  the 
Kennebec,  the  storming  of  the  lower  town,  and  the  gallant 
and  glorious  combats  of  Saratoga. 

The  hours  dragged  gloomily  away ;  night  came.  bu+  with 
it  no  rest  for  the  troubled  spirit  of  poor  Morgan.  The  drums 
and  fifes  merrily  sounded  the  soldier's  dawn,  and  the  sun 
arose,  giving  "promise  of  a  good  day."  And  to  many  within 


KEVOLUTTONAKY  INCIDENTS.  343 

the  circuit  of  that  widely-extended  camp,  did  its  genial  beama 
give  hope,  and  joy,  and  gladness,  while  it  cheered  not  with 
a  single  ray  the  despairing  leader  of  the  woodsmen. 

About  ten  o'clock,  the  orderly  on  duty  reported  the  arrival 
of  an  officer  of  the  staff,  from  headquarters,  and  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Hamilton,  the  favorite  aid  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
entered  the  niarkee.  "Be  seated,"  said  Morgan;  "I  know 
your  errand,  so  be  short,  my  dear  fellow,  and  put  me  out  of 
my  misery  at  once.  I  know  that  I  am  arrested ;  'tis  a  matter 
of  course.  Well,  there  is  my  sword;  but  surely,  his  excel- 
lency honors  me,  indeed,  in  these  last  moments  of  my  military 
existence,  when  he  sends  for  my  sword  by  his  favorite  aid, 
and  my  most  esteemed  friend.  Ah,  my  dear  Hamilton,  if 
you  knew  what  I  had  suffered  since  the  cursed  horse  came 
out  to  tempt  me  to  ruin." 

Hamilton,  about  whose  strikingly-intelligent  countenance 
there  always  lurked  a  playful  smile,  now  observed:  "  Colonel 
Morgan,  his  excellency  has  ordered  me  to — "  "  I  knew  it," 
interrupted  Morgan,  "  to  bid  me  prepare  for  trial !  Guilty, 
sir,  guilty  past  all  doubt.  But  then,  (recollecting  himself,) 
perhaps  my  services  might  plead — nonsense ;  against  the 
disobedience  of  a  positive  order?  no,  no,  it  is  all  over  with 
me  ;  Hamilton,  there  is  an  end  of  your  old  friend  and  of 
Colonel  Morgan."  The  agonized  spirit  of  our  hero  then 
mounted  a  pitch  of  enthusiasm,  as  he  exclaimed:  "But  my 
country  will  remember  my  services,  and  the  British  and 
Hessians  will  remember  me  too,  for  though  I  may  be  far 
away,  my  brave  comrades  will  do  their  duty,  and  Morgan's 
riflemen  be,  as  they  always  have  been,  a  terror  to  the 
enemy." 

The  noble,  the  generous -souled  Hamilton  could  no  longer 
bear  to  witness  the  struggles  of  the  brave  unfortunate ;  he 
called  out :  "  Hear  me,  my  dear  colonel,  only  promise  to  hear 
me  for  one  moment,  and  I  will  tell  you  all."  "  Go  on,  sir," 
replied  Morgan,  despairingly,  "go  on."  "Then,"  continued 
the  aid-de-camp,  "you  must  know  that  the  commanders  of 
regiments  dine  with  his  excellency  to-day."  "  What  of  that?" 
again  interrupted  Morgan;  "what  has  that  to  do  with  me,  a 
prisoner,  and — "  "  No,  no,"  exclaimed  Hamilton,  "  no  pris- 
oner ;  a  once  offending,  but  now  forgiven  soldier ;  my  orders 
are  to  invite  you  to  dine  with  his  excellency  to-day  at  three 


344  HISTORICAL  AND 

o'clock,  precisely.  Yes,  my  brave  and  good  friend,  Colonel 
Morgan,  you  still  are,  and  likely  long  to  be,  the  valued  and 
famed  commander  of  the  rifle  regiment." 

Morgan  sprang  from  the  camp-bed  on  which  he  was  sitting, 
and  seized  the  hand  of  the  little  great  man  in  his  giant 
grasp,  wrung  and  wrung  until  the  aid-de-camp  literally 
struggled  to  get  free,  then  exclaimed,  "Am  I  in  my  senses? 
but  I  know  you,  Hamilton — you  are  too  noble  a  fellow  to 
sport  with  the  feelings  of  an  old  soldier."  Hamilton  assured 
his  friend  that  all  was  true,  and,  kissing  his  hand  as  he 
mounted  his  horse,  bade  the  now  delighted  colonel  remember 
three  o'clock,  and  to  be  careful  not  to  disobey  a  second  time, 
galloped  to  the  headquarters. 

Morgan  entered  the  pavilion  of  the  commander  in  chief  as 
it  was  fast  filling  with  officers,  all  of  whom,  after  paying  their 
respects  to  the  general,  filed  off  to  give  a  cordial  squeeze  of 
the  hand  to  the  commander  of  the  rifle  regiment,  and  to 
whisper  in  his  ear  words  of  congratulation.  The  cloth 
removed,  Washington  bade  his  guests  fill  their  glasses,  and 
gave  his  only,  his  unvarying  toast — the  toast  of  the  days  of 
trial,  the  toast  of  the  evening  of  his  "time-honored"  life, 
amid  the  shades  of  Mount  Vernon — "All  our  friends."  Then, 
with  his  usual  old-fashioned  politeness,  he  drank  to  each 
guest  by  name.  When  he  came  to  "  Colonel  Morgan,  your 
good  health,  sir,"  a  thrill  ran  through  the  manly  frame  of 
the  gratified  and  again  favorite  soldier,  while  every  eye  in 
the  pavilion  was  turned  upon  him.  At  an  early  hour  the 
company  broke  up,  and  Morgan  had  a  perfect  escort  of  officers 
to  accompany  him  to  his  quarters,  all  anxious  to  congratulate 
him  upon  his  happy  restoration  to  rank  and  favor,  all  pleased 
to  assure  him  of  their  esteem  for  his  person  and  services. 

And  often  in  his  after-life  did  Morgan  reason  upon  the 
events  which  we  have  transmitted  to  Americans  and  their 
posterity,  and  he  would  say,  "What  could  the  unusual  clem- 
ency of  the  commander-in-chief  towards  so  insubordinate  a 
soldier  as  I  was,  mean  ?  Was  it  that  my  attacking  my  enemy 
wherever  I  could  find  him,  and  the  attack  being  crowned  with 
success,  should  plead  in  bar  of  the  disobedience  of  a  positive 
order?  Certainly  not.  Was  it  that  Washington  well  knew 
I  loved,  nay,  adored  him  above  all  human  beings  ?  That 
knowledge  would  not  have  weighed  a  feather  in  the  scale  of 


BEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  345 

his  military  justice.     In  short,  the  whole  affair  is  explained 
in  five  words :  It  was  my  first  offense." 

The  clemency  of  Washington  to  the  first  offense,  preserved 
to  the  army  of  the  revolution  one  of  its  most  valued  and 
effective  soldiers,  and  had  its  reward  in  little  more  than  two 
years  from  the  date  of  our  narrative,  when  Brigadier  General 
Morgan  consummated  his  own  fame,  and  shed  an  undying 
lustre  on  the  arms  of  his  country,  by  the  glorious  and  ever- 
memorable  victory  of  the  Cowpens. 

Nearly  twenty  years  more  had  rolled  away,  and  our  hero, 
like  most  of  his  companions,  had  beaten  his  sword  into  a 
plowshare,  and  was  enjoying,  in  the  midst  of  a  domestic  circle, 
the  evening  of  a  varied'  and  eventful  life.  When  advanced 
in  years,  and  infirm,  Major  General  Morgan  was  called  to  the 
supreme  legislature  of  his  country,  as  a  representative  from 
the  State  of  Virginia.  It  was  at  this  period  that  the  author 
of  these  memoirs  had  the  honor  and  happiness  of  an  interview 
with  the  old  general,  which  lasted  for  several  days.  And  the 
veteran  was  most  kind  and  communicative  to  one,  who,  hailing 
from  the  immediate  family  of  the  venerated  chief,  found  a 
ready  and  warm  welcome  to  the  heart  of  Morgan.  And 
many  and  most  touching  reminiscences  of  the  days  of  trial 
were  related  by  the  once  famed  leader  of  the  woodsmen,  which 
were  eagerly  devoured  and  carefully  treasured  by  their 
youthful  and  delighted  listener,  in  a  memory  of  no  ordinary 
power. 

And  it  was  there  the  unlettered  Morgan,  a  man  bred  amid 
the  scenes  of  danger  and  hardihood  that  distinguished  the 
f i-on tier  warfare,  with  little  book  knowledge,  but  gifted  by 
nature  with  a  strong  and  discriminating  mind,  paid  to  the 
fame  and  memory  of  the  father  of  our  country,  a  more  just, 
more  magnificent  tribute  than,  in  our  humble  judgment,  has 
emanated  from  the  thousand  and  o:ie  efforts  of  the  best  and 
brightest  genuises  of  the  age.  General  Morgan  spoke  of  the 
necessity  of  Washington  to  the  army  of  the  revolution,  and 
the  success  of  the  struggle  for  independence.  He  said,  "  We 
had  officers  of  groat  military  talents,  as,  for  instance,  Greene 
and  others ;  we  had  officers  of  the  most  consummate  courage 
and  enterprising  spirit,  as,  for  instance,  Wayne  and  others. 
One  was  yet  necessary,  to  guide,  direct,  and  animate  the  whole, 


346  HlSTOKICAL  AND 

and  it  pleased  Almighty  God  to  send  that  one  in  the  person 
of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

The  modern  tories,  to  whom  we  alluded  in  introducing 
this  fine  sketch,  will  find  something  also,  in  the  subjoined 
papers  to  freshen  their  memories,  in  regard  to  who  were  most 
justly  regarded  as  tories  of  the  olden  time : — 

BRITISH  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

A  much-valued  friend  has  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  editor, 
a  large  volume  of  papers,  containing  the  correspondence  of 
Brigadier-General  Lacey,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  commanded 
the  Militia  stationed  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  to 
watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy,  and  prevent  his  obtaining 
supplies. 

General  Lacey's  orders  to  his  scouting  parties,  March  9, 
1778  : — "  If  your  parties  should  meet  with  any  people  going 
to  market,  or  any  persons  whatever  going  to  the  city,  and 
they  endeavor  to  make  their  escape,  you  will  order  your  men 
to  fire  upon  the  villains.  You  will  leave  such  on  the  roads — 
their  bodies  and  their  marketing  lying  together.  This  I 
wish  you  to  execute  on  the  first  offenders  you  meet,  that  they 
may  be  a  warning  to  others." 

General  Washington  to  General  Lacey,  dated  at  Valley 
Forge,  20th  March,  1778: — Sunday  next  being  the  time  on 
which  the  Quakers  hold  one  of  their  general  meetings,  a 
number  of  that  society  will  probably  be  attempting  to  go  into 
Philadelphia.  This  is  an  intercourse  that  we  should  by  all 
means  endeavor  to  interrupt,  as  the  plans  settled  at  these 
meetings  are  of  the  most  pernicious  tendency/""  I  would 

0 1  was  in  great  doubt — whether  I  ought  to  publish  or  suppress  this  let- 
ler — b  it,  on  reflection,  have  thought  best  to  insert  it.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  a  great  majority  of  the  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania,  were  "  well  inclined" 
to  the  British,  and  some  of  them  went  great  lengths  out  of  the  rules  of 
their  profession,  to  aid  and  comfort  the  enemy  of  their  country ;  others  by 
adhering  to  those  rules  and  refusing  to  take  any  part  in  the  contest,  even 
by  the  payment  of  taxes,  were  improperly  suspected  of  disaffection,  when 
in  fact  they  were  only  neutral,  refusing  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
war ;  a  few,  however,  laid  aside  their  testimony  against  fighting,  and  con- 
tended gallantly  for  freedom.  Persons  of  this  religious  persuasion  in  some 
other  States,  were  sincerely  attached  to  the  cause  of  Independence,  and 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  347 

therefore  have  you  dispose  of  your  parties  in  such  a  manner 
as  will  most  probably  fall  in  with  these  people,  and  if  you 
should,  and  any  of  them  should  be  mounted  on  horses  fit  for 
draught,  or  the  service  of  light  dragoons,  I  desire  they  may 
be  taken  from  them,  and  sent  over  to  the  quarter-master- 
general.  Any  such  are  not  to  be  considered  as  the  property 
of  the  parties  who  may  seize  them,  as  in  other  cases.  Com- 
municate the  above  orders  to  any  of  the  officers  who  may 
command  scouting  parties  on  your  side  of  the  Schuylkill." 

[General  Lacey,  in  reply,  says  he  had  ordered  out  his 
horse  to  stop  the  Quakers,  with  orders,  "  if  they  refuse  to 
stop  when  hailed,  to  fire  into  them,  and  leave  their  bodies 
lying  in  the  road."] 

This  is  the  commentary  of  Niles,  of  the  old  Register,  who 
published  this  correspondence  nearly  thirty-five  years  ago,  and 
for  the  first  time,  but  we  would  beg  leave  to  add,  as  a  com- 
ment upon  his  apology,  the  following  extract  from  the  speech 
of  a  prominent  Revolutionary  leader,  upon  the  floor  of  the 
Continental  Congress.  It  is  taken  from  his  own  columns : — 

I  have  excluded  those  from  the  privileges  of  free  white 
inhabitants  in  the  several  States,  who  refuse  to  take  up  arms 
in  defense  of  the  confederacy — a  measure,  in  my  opinion,  - 
perfectly  just.  It  is  said,  example  before  precept.  Let  the 
Quakers  take  shelter  under  any  text  in  Scripture  they 
please — the  best  they  can  find  is  but  a  far-fetched  implica- 
tion in  their  favor.  However,  had  their  precept  been  in  more 
positive  terms,  I  think  I  have  an  example  at  hand,  capable 
of  driving  them  from  such  a  cover.  We  read  that  "  Jesus 
went  into  the  temple  of  God,  and  cast  out  all  them  that  sold 
and  bought  in  the  temple,  and  overturned  the  tables  of 
tho  money-changers."  Here  we  see  the  arm  of  the  flesh 
raised  up,  and  a  degree  of  hostile  violence  exercised,  suffi- 
cient to  the  end  in  view.  And  shall  it  be  said,  violence 
is  not  justifiable  ?  Did  not  God  command  Moses  to  num- 
ber "  all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  in  war,  in  'Israel?" 

did  all  they  consistently  coulJ  do  to  assist  the  whigs.  A  stoppage  of  the 
intercourse  with  Philadelphia,  at  the  time,  was  indubitably  necessary  and 
proper — but  General  Washington  was  misinformed,  I  apprehend,  when 
he  spoke  of  the  "  plans  "  settled  at  the  "  meetings  "  of  the  Quakers — what- 
ever they  may  have  done  as  individuals,  their  "  meetings  "  must  have  passed 
without  the  adoption  of  any  plans  of  a  political  nature — for  such  things 
are  not  suffered  to  be  mentioned  in  them, 


348  HISTORICAL  AND 

Did  not  Moses,  by  the  Divine  order,  send  twelve  thousand 
men  to  cut  off  the  Midianites.  And,  although  "  they  slew  all 
the  males,"  were  they  not  reprehended  for  having  "  saved 
all  the  women  alive  ?"  Did  not  the  Almighty  command  the 
children  of  Israel,  that  when  they  had  passed  into  Canaan 
"  then  they  should  drive  out  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
from  before  them  ?"  Did  not  Moses  direct  that  when  the 
people  were  "  come  nigh  unto  the  battle,"  the  priests  should 
encourage  them,  declaring  that  the  Lord  their  God  was  with 
them  "  to  fight  for  them  against  their  enemies?"  And  yet 
the  Quakers  have  sagaciously  found  out  a  few  words  which, 
by  implication,  they  contend  restrain  from  doing  now,  what 
God  then  commandeel  as  just.  The  grand  principles  of  moral 
rectitude  are  eternal.  Dare  the  Quakers  contend  that  the 
myriads  who  have  drawn  the  sword  since  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era,  are  damned  for  having  done  so  ?  And 
unless  they  maintain  this  position,  they  seem  to  have  no 
reasonable  excuse  for  their  creed  and  conduct.  They  seem 
to  have  forgot  that  it  is  written  "  how  hardly  shall  they  that 
have  riches  enter  into  kingdom  of  God !"  Are  there  any 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  more  diligent  after  riches 
than  the  Quakers?  We,  in  this  time  of  calamity,  know  it 
to  our  cost.  Without  doubt,  there  are  many  valuable  men 
of  that  sect ;  men  of  that  persuasion  are  very  good  citizens 
in  time  of  peace,  but  it  is  their  principle  in  time  of  war  I 
condemn.  Is  there  a  Quaker  who  will  not  bring  his  action 
for  trespass  ?  Is  not  this  an  opposition  to  force  ?  Have  they 
forgot  their  principles  of  meekness  and  non-resistance  ?  The 
great  Lord  Lyttleton,  in  his  Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  tells  us 
"  it  is  blasphemy  to  say  that  any  folly  could  come  from  the 
fountain  of  wisdom.  Whatever  is  inconsistent  with  the  great 
laws  of  nature,  and  with  the  necessary  state  of  human 
society,  cannot  be  inspired  by  the  Divinity.  Self-'defense  is 
as  necessary  to  nations  as  to  men.  And  shall  men  particu- 
larly have  a  right  which  nations  have  not  ?  True  religion 
is  the  perfection  of  reason.  Fanaticism  is  the  disgrace,  the 
destruction  of  reason."  Than  all  this,  nothing  could  be 
more  just,  certain,  and  evident.  Car/  those  men  reasonably 
claim  an  equal  participation  in  civil  rights,  who,  under  any 
pretence  whatsoever,  will  not  assist  in  defending  them? 
Shall  there  be  a  people  maintained  in  the  possession  of  their 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  349 

riches  by  the  blood  and  labor  of  other  men  ?  Are  not  the 
Quakers,  some  few  excepted,  the  most  inveterate  enemies  to 
the  independence  of  America?  Have  they  not  openly  taken 
part  with  those  in  arms  against  us  ?  I  consider  them  not 
only  as  a  dead  weight  upon  our  hands,  but  as  a  dangerous 
body  in  our  bosom,  and  I  would,  therefore,  gladly  be  rid  of 
them.  I  almost  wish  to  "  drive  out  all  such  inhabitants  of 
the  land  from  before  us."  The  Canaanites  knew  not  God. 
Bat  the  Quakers  say  they  know  him ;  and  yet,  according  to 
the  idea  of  Lord  Lyttleton,  would  have  gross  folly  and  injus- 
tice to  proceed  from  the  fountain  of  wisdom  and  equity.  I 
entertain  these  sentiments  with  a  conscience  perfectly  at  ease 
on  this  point.  If  such  treatment  shall  be  termed  persecu- 
tion, the  conscientious  Quakers  can  never  take  it  amiss,  when 
they  recollect  it  is  "blessed  are  they  that  are  persecuted  for 
Christ's  sake."  I  do  not  consider  this  as  such  a  persecution. 
But  if  they  should,  can  they  be  displeased  at  being  placed 
in  a  situation  to  be  blessed?  And  I  would  lay  it  down  as  a 
truth,  that  whoever  of  that  sect  should  be  offended  at  such 
treatment,  would  deserve  to  be  expelled  from  our  society,  as 
the  buyers,  sellers,  and  money-changers  were  cast  out  of  the 
temple.  I  am  not  afraid  of  any  resentment,  when  it  is  my 
duty  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  America. 
I  trust  I  fully  demonstrated  this  resolution  when,  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1776,  I  had  the  honor,  in  the  supreme  seat 
of  justice,  to  make  the  first  public  declaration  in  America, 
that  my  countrymen  owed  no  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great 
Britain. 


30 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  Treaty  with  France — The  progress  of  the  War,  North  and  South — The 
Cowpens — Yorktown — Surrender  of  Cornwallis — Letter  from  General 
Washington. 

We  will  now  proceed  with  a  rapid  summary  of  the  con- 
cluding events  of  the  great  war. 

The  important  treaties  with  France,  of  commerce  and 
defensive  alliance,  which  had  been  so  long  and  eagerly  sought 
for,  were  the  first  events  of  consequence  which  now  ensued. 
The  importance  of  these  treaties,  however,  except  so  far  as 
they  finally  served  to  strengthen  our  now  rapidly  declining 
financial  credit,  the  historian  of  "  Sam"  thinks  to  have  heen 
habitually  overrated  by  local  and  provincial  historians  ;  seeing 
that  the  very  basis  of  their  formation  was  plainly  avowed 
to  rest  upon  the  fact,  that  he  had  already  exhibited  his  full 
ability  to  take  care  of  himself.  That  he  had  already 
demonstrated  himself,  by  virtue  of  his  mighty  thews  and 
sinews,  to  be  the  master  of  his  own  destiny,  afforded,  no 
doubt,  to  Johnny  Crapeaud,  a  mighty  opportunity  for  a  grand 
display  of  magnanimity,  in  helping  him  to  a  place  of 
national  recognition,  in  which  no  leaven  of  ancient  animosity 
was,  of  course,  mingled,  to  disflavor  the  generosity  of  the 
patronage ! 

That  France  had  hated  England  from  the  beginning,  was 
necessarily,  to  the  modern  foes  of  "  Sam,"  no  reason  why 
France  loved  America  less  !  Her  disinterestedness  in  send- 
ing us  the  cast-of  military  adventurers  of  Europe,  who 
crowded  her  capital,  and  of  whom  she  was  only  too  happy  to 
be  rid,  and  who  only  managed  to  annoy  Congress  and  Wash- 
ington, with  endless  importunities  for  their  precious  services, 
350 


EEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS*  351 

which  were  never  rendered,  except  in  second  rate  skirmishes, 
although  they  had  unanimously  consented  to  fight  his  battles 
for  him,  in  the  subordinate  positions  of  prepaid  and  overpaid 
Generals,  Brigadiers,  etc ! 

Be  this  as  it  may,  for  these  evidences  of  disinterestedness, 
"  Sam  "  has,  however,  for  seventy-nine  years  since,  shown 
himself  duly  or  unduly,  so  scrupulously  grateful,  as  to  have 
allowed  to  all  foreigners  greater  franchises  than  he  has  ever 
permitted  even  to  his  own  children.  He  has  given  them 
most  of  his  offices,  set  them  to  teaching  most  of  his  schools, 
with  professorships  and  gratuities  of  every  imaginable  grade 
and  class,  and  all  because  he  had  three  or  four  honorable 
and  upright  servitors  among  them,  during  the  dark  hours 
of  his  tribulation. 

But  it  unluckily  appears,  that  this  excessive  gratitude  on 
the  part  of  "  Sam/7  instead  of  covering  them  with  humility, 
and  rendering  them  grateful  for  largess  bestowed  with  a 
magnanimous  hand,  has  filled  them  with  the  insolence  which 
has  always  accompanied  the  reaction  of  servility,  and  caused 
them  to  assume  the  airs  of  masters,  and  even  sovereign  dic- 
tators. 

But  "  Sam  "  has  lost  patience  at  last,  and  his  mighty  arm 
is  now  raised  over  them  in  wrath,  and  with  one  haughty 
finger  pointing  at  the  pillory,  he  brandishes  aloft  the  whips 
of  his  electric  threatenings  above  their  cowering  backs,  and 
gives  them  to  understand,  in  a  voice  that  shakes  the  conti- 
nent, "  hence,  to  your  kennels,  hounds  !  I  am  master  here  ! 
disorganize rs,  tories,  insolent  and  ungrateful  presumers  upon 
a  precious  magnanimity,  which  you  were  too  much  born-serfs 
in  your  own  pageant-saddled  and  king-ridden  lands  to  com- 
prehend, learn  to  respect  my  own  born  children,  and  know 
your  places !  Know  that  ye  are  but  fugitive-slaves,  among 
a  people  of  sovereign  freemen,  and  only  tolerated  on  good 
behavior,  until  a  sufficient  period  of  probation  has  shown  you 
to  be  worthy  the  privileges  of  citizenship  !"  Yes,  the  time 
has  come  for  the  peremptory  rebuke  of  this  presuming 
arrogance,  against  the  annoyance  of  which,  even  during  this 
early  period  of  the  Eevolution,  the  lofty  and  patient  Wash- 
ington found  it  necessary  to  write  several  complaining 
letters  to  the  Continental  Congress,  beseeching  them  to 
cease  giving  any  further  encouragements  to  these  clamorous 


352  HISTORICAL  AND 

and  greedy  cormorants,  who  incessantly  beset  his  marquee, 
and  worried  him  with  their  unheard  of  demands ! 

So  great  had  this  evil  at  this  time  become,  that  Congress 
thought  it  necessary  to  recall  their  foolish  and  imprudent 
agent  at  Paris,  Dean,  and  force  him  to  give  a  stern  account 
of  his  conduct,  for  having  sent  over  such  a  swarm  of  impu 
dent  beggars,  to  assail  every  department  of  the  Goverment 
with  their  importunate  clamors.  And  the  example  of  such 
beggar  lazzaroni  as  they  then  complained  of,  has  been  very 
successfully  followed  up  to  the  present  day. 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  return  to  our  proposed  hasty  out- 
line. The  French  fleet,  under  D'Estaing,  had  now  arrived. 
The  British  found  it  necessary  to  withdraw  from  Philadelphia. 
When  the  evacuation  became  known  to  the  American  army, 
Washington  determined  upon  immediate  pursuit ;  and  every 
one  will  remember  the  indecisive  battle  of  Monmouth  which 
followed,  and  the  either  treacherous  or  dastardly  conduct 
on  the  field,  of  Lee,  whom  Washington,  in  his  irritation, 
impetuously  denounced  as  a  coward,  when  he  met  him  in 
full  retreat,  with  the  whole  American  advance. 

The  conduct  of  Lee  has  been  much  discussed,  pro  and  con, 
but  we  think  that  no  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
remember  his  precedents,  will  for  a  moment  delude  himself 
with  the  supposition  that  Lee's  conduct  was  the  result  of 
cowardice.  Yet  we  have  always  thought  he  ought  to  have 
been  court-martialed  and  cashiered  on  the  spot,  or  else  strung 
as  high  as  Arnold  would  have  been  hung,  had  he  been 
caught ;  for  his  conduct  was  clearly  the  result  of  personal 
jealousy  of  Washington,  and  a  desire  to  defeat  a  movement 
which  he  had  opposed  in  a  council  of  war,  which  preceded  the 
pursuit. 

Had  he  succeeded  in  effecting  this  "masterly  inactive" 
policy  of  his,  and  the  British  army  been  permitted  to  escape 
without  harrassment  or  loss,  it  would,  in  the  then  existing 
conditions  of  bitter  jealousy  and  intrigue  against  Washing- 
ton, have  greatly  shocked  the  as  yet  unshaken  confidence 
of  the  sagacious  Congress,  which  carefully  overlooked,  with 
penetrating  vision,  the  whole  field  of  operations  in  their 
favorite  servant  and  general,  Washington  ;  in  which  event, 
Master  Lee,  who  was  second  in  command,  might  have  natur 
ally  looked  forward  to  the  eagle  plume  of  chieftainship. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  353 

This  Congress  affords,  perhaps,  the  only  instance  in  which 
a  legislative  body  has,  with  just  discrimination,  supervised 
the  operations  of  a  long  and  perilous  war,  without  rashly 
entrusting  too  great  powers  to  its  generals,  or  embarrassing 
them  with  impertinent  interference.  Such  bodies  usually 
fail  in  one  extreme  or  the  other. 

But  the  hand  of  "  Sam,"  under  God,  was  over  this  body, 
than  whom,  a  wiser  and  nobler  assemblage  history  does  not 
record  to  have  ever  assembled  before,  for  executive  purposes. 

The  Indian  wars,  which  now  ravaged  the  Western  and 
Northern  Frontiers,  now  resulted  in  the  savage  massacre  of 
Wyoming,  which  was  promptly  followed  by  a  proportionate 
retribution  against  our  quondam  friends,  the  Six  Nations, 
and  the  prompt  return  of  several  tribes  to  their  ancient  alle- 
giance. The  war,  then  transferred  to  the  South,  was  attended 
with  serious  calamities  to  our  cause.  Savannah  taken,  and 
Georgia  subdued,  North  and  South  Carolina  were  reduced  to 
extremities. 

In  the  meantime,  King's  Ferry,  on  the  Hudson,  was  occu- 
pied by  the  British ;  Stoney  Point  surprised ;  and  Spain  takes 
a  hand  against  America  in  the  war — and  John  Paul  Jones, 
the  Americanized  Scotchman,  performed  Herculean  prodigies 
of  valor  on  the  sea.  Charleston  soon  after  capitulated,  and 
with  it  came  the  submission  of  the  State  to  British  rule. 

A  savage  partisan  warfare  now  arose,  and  the  gallants 
Marion  and  Sumpter,  began  to  be  heard  of,  through  the 
indomitable  prowess  of  their  surprising  feats.  The  disastrous 
rout  at  Camden,  and  the  treachery  of  Arnold,  with  the  trial 
and  execution  of  Andre*,  followed  in  close  succession.  The 
gallant  Greene,  appointed  to  the  command  in  the  south,  to 
take  the  place  of  the  renegade  Gates,  soon  caused  a  change 
in  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  this  direction. 

The  sharp  and  close  fighting  of  our  backwoods'  men  at 
the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  somewhat  revived  the  spirits 
of  the  South.  A  quarrel  between  Great  Britain  and  Holland, 
which  occurred  about  this  time,  tended  somewhat  to  the  em- 
barrassment of  the  former. 

The  financial  embarrassments  and  depreciation  of  Contin- 
ental currency,  had  now  about  reached  its  climax,  and  the 
disaffection  of  the  army,  and  the  difficulty  of  keeping  it 
30* 


354  HISTORICAL  AND 

together,  became  every  day  more  great.  Several  regiments 
rebelled,  and  many  left  the  field  entirely,  for  want  of  pay. 

The  battle  of  the  "  Cowpens,"  on  the  borders  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  in  which  the  redoubtable  conch-shell  of  the  hurley 
Morgan,  carried  terror  to  the  craven  heart  of  the  bloody 
Tarleton,  and  set  the  lordly  Cornwallis  on  his  "  pegs,"  into 
the  Hasty  trot  of  retreat,  at  the  cost  of  a  great  loss  of  stores 
and  baggage — roused  up  the  ever-vigilant  Greene ;  and 
although  Cornwallis  had  been  discreetly  compelled  to  reduce 
his  whole  army  to  the  condition  of  a  light  infantry  corps, 
for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  the  discreet  retreat  of  the  vic- 
torious Morgan,  Greene  was  enabled  to  effect  an  immediate 
junction  with  Morgan,  who  had  managed  to  effect  his  escape, 
owing  to  the  sudden  rise  of  waters  which  prevented  the  pur- 
suit of  his  enemies. 

The  battle  of  Gilford  Court-house,  which  now  follows,  and 
may  be  called  a  drawn  battle,  (though  attended  with  great 
loss  to  the  British,  and  compelling  Cornwallis  to  retire,)  was 
very  inspiriting  to  our  cause. 

Green  was  everywhere  successful.  The  petulant  and  irrit- 
able D'Estaing  had  in  the  meantime  returned  with  his  fleet 
from  the  West  Indies.  Cornwallis,  who  had  finally  reached 
Virginia  on  his  fourth  retreat,  found  himself  rapidly  involved 
in  the  inextricable  meshes,  from  which  he  never  finally 
escaped. 

The  details  of  the  subsequent  movements  of  Washington 
and  Greene,  one  moving  suddenly  from  the  north  and  the 
other  from  the  south,  are  too  well  known  to  require  any 
greater  detail  here.  It  is  sufficient  that  now  came  the  great 
climax  of  our  struggle.  Washington,  Greene,  and  the  Count 
De  Grasse,  who  had  now  assumed  the  command  of  the  French 
force,  by  a  long  concerted  movement,  as  we  shall  proceed  to 
show,  now  unexpectedly  closed  upon  the  army  of  the  British 
lord,  who  found  himself,  to  his  great  dismay,  beleaguered 
from  all  sides,  in  the  paltry  village  of  Yorktown. 

As  our  purpose  has  been  to  add  new  light  to  old  and  well- 
known  facts,  rather  than  to  follow  slavishly  old  records  of 
familiar  details,  we  append  the  following  ancient  and  au- 
thentic documents  concerning  this  great  event.  We  give 
first  the  following  document,  containing  a  private  letter 
written  by  Washington  in  1778. 


KEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS.  355 

It  has  been  controverted,  whether  the  capture  of  General 
Cornwallis  ivas  the  result  of  a  plan  preconcerted  between  Gen- 
eral Washington  and  Count  De  Grasse :  or  rather,  whether  the 
arrival  of  the  Count  in  the  Chesapeake,  was  predetermined  and 
expected  by  General  Washington,  and  consequently  all  the  prepa- 
rations to  attack  New  York,  a  mere  finesse  to  deceive  the  enemy : 
or  whether  the  real  intention  was  against  New  York,  and  the 
siege  of  Yorktown  planned  upon  the  unexpected  arrival  of  the 
French  fleet,  in  the  Bay.  The  following  letter  will  set  the  matter 
in  its  true  light — [Carey's  Museum. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  July  31,  1788. 

SIR. — I  duly  received  your  letter  of  the  14th  inst.,  and  can 
only  answer  you  briefly,  and  generally  from  memory — that 
a  combined  operation  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  France, 
in  America,  for  the  year  1781,  was  preconcerted  the  year 
before ;  that  the  point  of  attack  was  not  absolutely  agreed 
upon,  °  because  it  could  not  be  foreknown  where  the  enemy 
would  be  most  susceptible  of  impression ;  and  because  we 
(having  the  command  of  the  water,  with  sufficient  means  of 
conveyance)  could  transport  ourselves  to  any  spot  with  the 
greatest  celerity ;  that  it  was  determined  by  me,  nearly 
twelve  months  beforehand,  at  all  hazards,  to  give  out,  and 
cause  it  to  be  believed,  by  the  highest  military,  as  well  as 
civil  officers,  that  New  York  was  the  destined  place  of  attack, 
for  the  important  purpose  of  inducing  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States  to  make  greater  exertions  in  furnishing  specific  sup- 
plies, than  they  otherwise  would  have  done,  as  well  as  for 
the  interesting  purpose  of  rendering  the  enemy  less  prepared 
elsewhere  ;  that,  by  these  means,  and  these  alone,  artillery, 
boats,  stores,  and  provisions,  were  in  seasonable  preparation 
to  move  with  the  utmost  rapidity  to  any  part  of  the  conti- 
nent;  for  the  difficulty  consisted  more  in  providing,  than 
knowing  how  to  apply  the  military  apparatus.  That,  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Count  Do  Grasse,  it  was  the  fixed  determina- 
tion to  strike  the  enemy  in  the  most  vulnerable  quarter,  so  as  to 
insure  success  with  moral  certainty,  as  our  affairs  were  then 
in  the  most  ominous  train  imaginable  ;  that  New  York  was 

0  Because  it  would  be  easy  for  ount  De  Grasse  in  good  tirae  before  his 
departure  from  the  West  Indies,  to  give  notice,  by  express,  at  what  place 
he  could  most  conveniently  first  touch,  to  receive  advice. 


356  HISTORICAL  AND 

thought  to  he  beyond  our  efforts,  and  consequently,  that  the 
only  hesitation  that  remained,  was  hetween  an  attack  upon 
the  British  army  in  Virginia,  and  that  in  Charleston ;  anr- 
finally,  that,  hy  the  intervention  of  several  commurications 
and  some  incidents  which  can  not  he  detailed  in  a  leHer,  the 
hostile  post  in  Virginia,  from  being  a  provisional  and  strongly 
expected,  became  the  definitive  and  certain  object  of  the  campaign 

I  only  add,  that  it  never  was  in  contemplation  to  attack 
New  York,  unless  the  garrison  should  first  have"  been  so  far 
degarnished,  to  carry  on  the  Southern  operations,  as  to  render 
our  success  in  the  siege  of  that  place,  as  infallible  as  any 
future  military  event  can  ever  be.  For  I  repeat  it,  and  dwell 
upon  it  again,  some  splendid  advantage  (whether  upon  a 
larger  or  smaller  scale  was  almost  immaterial)  was  so  essen- 
tially necessary,  to  revive  the  expiring  hope  and  languid 
exertions  of  the  country,  at  the  crisis  in  question,  that  I  never 
would  have  consented  to  embark  in  any  enterprise,  wherein, 
from  the  most  rational  plan  and  accurate  calculation,  the 
favorable  issue  should  not  have  appeared  to  my  view  as  a  ray 
of  light.  The  failure  of  an  attempt  against  the  posts  of  the 
enemy,  could,  in  no  other  possible  situation  during  the  war, 
have  been  so  fatal  to  our  cause. 

That  much  trouble  was  taken,  and  finesse  used,  to  mis- 
guide and  bewilder  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  in  regard  to  the  real 
object,  by  fictitious  communications,  as  well  as  by  making  a 
deceptive  provision  of  ovens,  forage,  and  boats  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, is  certain  ;  nor  were  less  pains  taken  to  deceive  oui 
own  army ;  for  I  always  conceived  where  the  imposition  dock 
not  completely  take  place  at  home,  it  would  never  sufficiently 
succeed  abroad. 

Your  desire  of  obtaining  truth  is  very  laudable ;  I  wish  I 
had  more  leisure  to  gratify  it,  as  I  am  equally  solicitous  the 
undisguised  verity  should  be  known.  Many  circumstances 
will  unavoidably  be  misconceived  and  misrepresented.  Not- 
withstanding most  of  the  papers  which  may  properly  be 
deemed  official,  are  preserved,  yet  the  knowledge  of  innu- 
merable things  of  a  more  delicate  and  secret  nature,  is  con- 
fined to  the  perishable  remembrance  of  some  few  of  the 
present  generation. 

With  esteem,  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


REVOLtJTION'AllY   INCIDENTS.  357 

We  will  now  give  a  graphic  account  of  the  ceremonies 
attending  the  surrender  of  Yorktown. 

THE  SURRENDER  AT  YORKTOWN. 

From  the  Richmond  Compiler,  of  April  10,  1818. 

As  every  incident  connected  with  our  Revolutionary  his- 
tory, is  interesting  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  I  shall 
solicit  a  niche  in  your  paper,  to  answer  an  inquiry  in  a  late 
Compiler,  concerning  the  surrender  of  the  British  army,  at 
Yorktown,  Virginia ;  and  hope  that  your  readers  will  experi- 
ence the  same  pleasure  in  reading  the  account,  that  I  enjoy 
in  the  narration. 

"  At  two  o'clock  in  the  evening,  October  19th,  1781,  the 
British  army,  led  "by  General  O'Hara,  marched  out  of  its 
lines,  \\ith  colors  cased,  and  drums  beating  a  British  march. 

"  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  that  O'Hara,  and  not  Corn- 
wallis,  surrendered  the  British  army  to  the  allied  forces  of 
France  and  America.  In  this  affair,  Lord  Cornwallis  seemed 
to  have  lost  all  his  former  magnanimity  and  firmness  of 
character — he  sunk  beneath  the  pressure  of  his  misfortunes, 
and,  for  a  moment,  gave  his  soul  up  to  chagrin  and  sorrow. 

"The  road  through  which  they  marched,  was  lined  with 
spectators,  French  and  Americans.  On  one  side,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  surrounded  by  his  suite  and  the  American 
staffs,  took  his  station ;  on  the  other  side,  opposite  to  him, 
was  the  Count  de  Rochambeau,  in  like  manner  attended. 
The  captive  army  approached,  moving  slowly  in  column,  with 
grace  and  precision. 

"  Universal  silence  was  observed  amidst  the  vast  concourse, 
and  the  utmost  decency  prevailed,  exhibiting  in  demeanor,  an 
awful  sense  of  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life,  mingled  with 
commiseration  for  the  unhappy.  The  head  of  the  column 
approached  the  commander-in-chief ;  O'Hara,  mistaking  the 
circle,  turned  tn  that  on  his  left,  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
his  respects  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  requesting  fur- 
ther orders ;  when  quickly  discovering  his  error,  with  embar- 
rassment in  his  countenance,  he  flew  across  the  road,  and 
advanced  up  to  Washington,  asked  pardon  for  his  mistake, 
apologized  for  the  absence  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  begged  to 
know  his  further  pleasure. 


358  HISTORICAL  AND 

"  The  General,  feeling  his  embarrassment,  relieved  it  by 
referring  him,  with  much  politeness,  to  General  Lincoln  for 
his  government.  Keturning  to  the  head  of  the  column,  it 
again  moved,  under  the  guidance  of  Lincoln,  to  the  field 
selected  for  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony. 

"  Every  eye  was  turned,  searching  for  the  British  com- 
mander-in -chief,  anxious  to  look  at  a  man,  heretofore  so  much 
their  dread.  All  were  disappointed. 

"  Cornwallis  held  himself  back  from  the  humiliating  scene ; 
obeying  sensations  which  his  great  character  ought  to  have 
stifled.  He  had  been  unfortunate,  not  from  any  false  step, 
or  deficiency  of  exertion  on  his  part,  but  from  the  infatuated 
policy  of  his  superior,  and  the  united  power  of  his  enemy 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  alone.  There  was  nothing  with 
which  he  could  reproach  himself ;  there  was  nothing  with 
which  he  could  reproach  his  brave  and  faithful  army ;  why 
not  then  appear  at  its  head  in  the  day  of  misfortune,  as  he 
had  always  done  in  the  day  of  triumph  ? 

"  The  British  general  in  this  instance,  deviated  from  his 
usual  line  of  conduct,  dimming  the  splendor  of  his  long  and 
brilliant  career. 

"  Thus  ended  the  important  co-operation  of  the  allied 
forces.  Great  was  the  joy  diffused  throughout  our  infant 
empire." 

I  can  not  end  this  interesting  detail,  as  recorded  by  Henry 
Lee,  without  giving  you  his  panegyric  on  the  father  of  our 
country : 

"  This  wide  acclaim  of  joy  and  of  confidence,  as  rare  as 
sincere,  sprung  not  only  from  the  conviction  that  our  signal 
success  would  bring  in  its  train  the  blessings  of  peace,  so 
wanted  by  our  wasted  country,  and  from  the  splendor  with 
which  it  encircled  our  national  name,  but  from  the  endearing 
reflection  that  the  mighty  exploit  had  been  achieved  by  our 
faithful,  beloved  Washington.  We  had  seen  him  struggling 
throughout  the  war,  with  inferior  force,  against  the  best 
troops  of  England,  assisted  by  her  powerful  navy  ;  surrounded 
by  difficulties,  oppressed  by  want,  never  dismayed,  never 
appalled,  never  despairing  of  the  commonwealth. 

"  We  have  seen  him  renouncing  his  fame  as  a  soldier,  his 
safety  as  a  man,  in  his  unalloyed  love  of  country ;  weakening 


EEVOLUTIONABY  INCIDENTS.  359 

his  own  immediate  force  to  strengthen  that  of  his  lieu- 
tenants ;  submitting  with  equanimity  to  his  own  subsequent 
inability  to  act,  and  rejoicing  in  their  triumphs,  because  best 
calculated  to  uphold  the  great  cause  intrusted  to  his  care  ; 
at  length,  by  one  great  and  final  exploit,  under  the  benign 
influence  of  Providence,  lifted  to  the  pinnacle  of  glory,  the 
reward  of  his  toil,  his  sufferings,  his  patience,  his  heroism, 
and  his  virtue.  Wonderful  man  !  rendering  it  difficult  by 
his  conduct  throughout  life,  to  decide  whether  he  most  excel- 
led in  goodness  or  in  greatness." 

Here  also  is  a  curious  paper  which  illustrates  the  effect  of 
the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  given  in  the  words  of  an  eye- 
witness, a  candid  Englishman,  who  was  an  habitue  of  the 
British  Court  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  news  : 


SURRENDER  OF  LORD   CORNWALLIS. 
From  Sir.  N.  W.  Wraxall's  «  Memoirs  of  his  Own  Time." 

NOVEMBER,  1781.  During  the  whole  month  of  November 
the  concurring  accounts  transmitted  to  government,  enumer- 
ating Lord  Cornwallis'  embarrassments  and  the  positions 
taken  by  the  enemy,  augmented  the  anxiety  of  the  Cabinet. 
Lord  George  Germain,  in  particular,  conscious  that  on  the 
prosperous  or  adverse  termination  of  that  expedition,  must 
hinge  the  fate  of  the  American  contest,  his  own  stay  in  office, 
as  well  as  probably  the  duration  of  the  ministry  itself,  felt, 
and  even  expressed  to  his  friends,  the  strongest  uneasiness 
on  the  subject.  The  meeting  of  Parliament,  meanwhile, 
stood  fixed  for  the  27th  of  November.  On  Sunday,  the  25th, 
about  noon,  official  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  the  Brit 
ish  forces  at  Yorktown,  arrived  from  Falmouth,  at  Lord  Ger- 
main's house  in  Pall  Mall.  Lord  Walsingham,  who,  previous 
to  his  father,  Sir  William  de  Gray's  elevation  to  the  peerage, 
had  been  under  secretary  of  state  in  that  department,  and 
who  was  selected  to  second  the  address  in  the  House  of  Peers 
on  the  subsequent  Tuesday,  happened  to  he  there  when  the 
messenger  brought  the  news.  Without  communicating  it 
to  any  person,  Lord  George,  for  the  purpose  of  despatch, 
immediately  got  with  him  into  a  hackney-coach  and  drove  to 


360  HlSTOEICAL  AND 

Lord  Stormount's  residence  in  Portland  Place.  Having 
imparted  to  him  the  disastrous  information,  and  taken  him 
into  the  carriage,  they  instantly  proceeded  to  the  Chancellor's 
house,  in  Great  Bussel  Street,  Bloomsbury,  whom  they  found 
at  home ;  when,  after  a  short  consultation,  they  determined 
to  lay  it  themselves,  in  person,  before  Lord  North.  He  had 
not  received  any  intimation  of  the  event  when  they  arrived 
at  his  door,  in  Downing  Street,  between  one  and  two  o'clock. 
The  first  minister's  firmness,  and  even  his  presence  of  mind, 
gave  way  for  a  short  time,  under  this  awful  disaster.  I 
asked  Lord  George  afterwards,  how  he  took  the  communica- 
tion when  made  to  him  ?  "  As  I  would  have  taken  a  ball  in 
my  breast/'  replied  Lord  George.  "For  he  opened  his  arms, 
exclaiming  wildly,  as  he  paced  up  and  down  the  apartment 
during  several  minutes,  '  O !  God  !  it  is  all  over !'  Words 
which  he  repeated  many  times,  under  emotions  of  the  deepest 
agitation  and  distress." 

When  the  first  agitation  of  their  minds  had  subsided,  the 
four  ministers  discussed  the  question,  whether  or  not  it  might 
be  expedient  to  prorogue  Parliament  for  a  few  days ;  but,  as 
scarcely  an  interval  of  forty-eight  hours  remained  before  the 
appointed  time  of  assembling,  and,  as  many  members  of  both 
houses  were  already  either  arrived  in  London,  or  on  the  road, 
that  proposition  was  abandoned.  It  became,  however,  indis- 
pensable to  alter,  and  almost  to  model  anew  the  king's 
speech,  which  had  already  been  drawn  up,  and  completely 
prepared  for  delivery  from  the  throne.  This  alteration  was, 
therefore,  made  without  delay ;  and  at  the  same  time,  Lord 
George  Germain,  as  secretary  for  the  American  department, 
sent  off  a  despatch  to  his  majesty,  who  was  then  at  Kew, 
acquainting  him  with  the  melancholy  termination  of  Lord 
Cornwallis'  expedition.  Some  hours  having  elapsed  before 
these  different,  but  necessary  acts  of  business  could  take 
place,  the  ministers  separated,  and  Lord  George  Germain 
repaired  to  his  office  in  Whitehall.  There  he  found  a  con- 
firmation of  the  intelligence,  which  arrived  about  two  hours 
after  the  first  communication  ;  having  been  transmitted  from 
Dover,  from  which  place  it  was  forwarded  to  Calais  with  the 
French  account  of  the  same  event. 

I  dined  on  that  day  at  Lord  George's ;  and  though  the 
information  which  had  reached  London  in  the  course  of  the 


EEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  361 

morning,  from  two  different  quarters,  was  of  a  nature  not  to 
admit  of  long  concealment,  yet  it  had  not  been  communicated 
to  me,  nor  to  any  individual  of  the  company,  as  it  might 
naturally  have  been,  through  the  channel  of  common  report, 
vvhen  I  got  to  Pall  Mall,  between  five  and  six  o'clock.  Lord 
VValsingham,  who  likewise  dined  there,  was  the  only  person 
present,  except  Lard  George,  who  was  acquainted  with  the 
fact.  The  party,  nine  in  number,  sat  down  to  table.  I 
thought  the  master  of  the  house  appeared  serious,  though 
he  manifested  no  discomposure.  Before  the  dinner  was 
finished,  one  of  his  servants  delivered  him  a  letter,  brought 
back  from  the  messenger  who  had  been  despatched  to  the 
king.  Lord  George  opened  and  perused  it ;  then  looking  at 
Lord  Walsingham,  to  whom  he  exclusively  directed  his  ob- 
s  rvation,  "The  king  writes,"  said  he,  "just  as  he  always 
d>es,  except  that  I  observe  he  has  omitted  to  mark  the  hour 
and  the  minute  of  his  writing,  with  his  usual  precision." 
This  remark,  though  calculated  to  awaken  some  interest, 
excited  no  comment ;  and  while  the  ladies,  Lord  George's 
three  daughters,  remained  in  the  room,  we  repressed  our 
curiosity.  But  they  had  no  sooner  withdrawn,  than  Lord 
George,  having  acquainted  us  that  from  Paris  information 
had  just  arrived  of  the  old  Count  de  Maurepas,  first  minister, 
lying  at  the  point  of  death:  "It  would  grieve  me,"  said  I 
"  to  finish  my  career,  however  far  advanced  in  years,  were 
I  first  minister  of  France,  before  1  had  witnessed  the  termi- 
nation of  this  great  contest  between  England  and  America." 
"  He  has  survived  to  see  that  event,"  replied  Lord  George, 
with  some  agitation.  Utterly  unsuspicious  of  the  fact  which 
had  happened  beyond  the  Atlantic,  I  conceived  him  to  allude 
to  the  indecisive  naval  action  fought  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chesapeake,  early  in  the  preceding  month  of  September, 
between  Admiral  Graves  and  Count  de  Grasse ;  which,  in  its 
results,  might  prove  most  injurious  to  Lord  Cornwallis.  Under 
this  impression,  "  my  meaning,"  said  I,  "  is  that  if  I  were 
the  Count  de  Maurepas,  I  should  wish  to  live  long  enough  to 
behold  the  final  issue  of  the  war  in  Virginia."  "  He  has 
survived  to  witness  it  completely,"  answered  Lord  George, 
"  the  army  has  surrendered,  and  you  may  peruse  the  parti- 
culars of  the  capitulation  in  that  paper."  taking  at  the  same 
time  one  from  his  pocket,  which  he  delivered  into  my  hand, 
31 


362  HISTORICAL  AND 

not  without  visible  emotion.  By  his  permission,  I  read  it  aloud, 
while  the  company  listened  in  profound  silence.  We  then 
discussed  its  contents,  as  it  effected  the  ministry,  the  country 
and  the  war.  It  must  be  confessed  that  they  were  calculated 
to  diffuse  a  gloom  over  the  most  convivial  society,  and  that 
they  opened  a  wide  field  for  practical  speculation. 

After  perusing  the  account  of  Lord  Cornwallis's  surrender 
at  Yorktown,  it  was  impossible  for  all  present  not  to  feel  a 
lively  curiosity  to  know  how  the  king  had  received  the  intel- 
ligence, as  well  as  how  he  expressed  himself  in  his  note  to 
Lord  George  Germain,  on  the  first  communication  of  so  pain- 
ful an  event.  He  gratified  our  wish  by  reading  it  to  us, 
observing  at  the  same  time,  that  it  did  the  highest  honor  to 
his  Majesty's  fortitude,  firmness,  and  consistency  of  character. 
The  words  made  an  impression  on  my  memory  which  the 
lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years  has  not  erased ;  and  I  shall 
here  communicate  its  tenor,  as  serving  to  show  how  that 
prince  felt  and  wrote,  under  one  of  the  most  afflicting,  as 
well  as  humiliating  occurrences  of  his  reign.  The  billet  ran 
nearly  to  this  effect:  "  I  have  received,  with  sentiments  of  the 
deepest  concern,  the  communication  which  Lord  George  Ger- 
main has  made  me,  of  the  unfortunate  result  of  the  opera- 
tions in  Virginia.  I  particularly  lament  it,  on  account  of  the 
consequences  connected  with  it,  and  the  difficulties  which  it 
may  produce  in  carrying  on  the  public  business,  or  in  repair- 
ing such  a  misfortune.  But  I  trust  that  neither  Lord  George 
Germain,  nor  any  member  of  the  cabinet,  will  suppose  that 
it  makes  any  alteration  in  those  principles  of  my  conduct 
which  have  directed  me  in  past  times,  and  which  will  always 
continue  to  animate  me  under  every  event,  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  present  contest."  Not  a  sentiment  of  despondency  or 
despair  was  to  be  found  in  the  letter ;  the  very  handwriting 
of  which  indicated  composure  of  mind.  Whatever  opinion  we 
may  entertain  relative  to  the  practicability  of  reducing 
America,  to  obedience,  by  force  of  arms,  at  the  end  of  1781, 
we  must  admit  that  no  sovereign  could  manifest  more  calm- 
ness, dignity,  or  self-command  than  George  III.  displayed  in 
this  reply. 

Severely  as  the  general  effect  of  the  blow  received  in  Vir- 
ginia was  felt  throughout  the  nation,  yet  no  immediate 
symptoms  of  ministerial  dissolution,  or  even  of  Parliamentary 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  363 

defection  became  visible  in  either  House.  All  the  ani- 
mated invectives  of  Fox,  aided  by  the  contumelious  irony  of 
Burke,  and  sustained  by  the  dignified  denunciations  of  Pitt, 
enlisted  on  the  same  side,  made  little  apparent  impression 
on  their  hearers,  who  seemed  stupefied  by  the  disastrous 
intelligence.  Yet  never,  probably,  at  any  period  of  our  his- 
tory, was  more  indignant  language  used  by  the  opposition,  or 
supported  by  administration.  In  the  ardor  of  his  feelings  at 
the  recent  calamity  beyond  the  Atlantic,  Fox  not  only  accused 
ministers  of  being  virtually  in  the  pay  of  France,  but  men- 
aced them  in  the  name  of  an  undone  people,  who  would 
speedily  compel  them  to  expiate  their  crimes  on  the  public 
scaffold.  Burke,  with  inconceivable  warmth  of  coloring, 
depicted  the  folly  and  impracticability  of  taxing  America  by 
force,  or,  as  he  described  it,  "shearing  the  wolf."  The  meta- 
phor was  wonderfully  appropriate,  and  scarcely  admitted  of 
denial.  Pitt  leveled  his  observations  principally  against  the 
cabinet,  whom  he  represented  as  destitute  of  principle,  wis- 
dom, or  union  of  design.  All  three  were  sustained,  and  I 
had  almost  said,  outdone,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Pitt,  who,  in  terms 
of  gloomy  despondency,  seemed  to  regard  the  situation  of  the 
country  as  scarcely  admitting  of  a  remedy,  under  such  a  Par- 
liament, such  ministers,  and  such  a  sovereign.  Lord  North, 
in  this  moment  of  general  depression,  found  resources  within 
himself — he  scornfully  repelled  the  insinuations  of  Fox,  as 
deserving  only  contempt ;  justified  the  principles  of  the  war, 
which  did  not  originate  in  a  despotic  wish  to  tyrannize  over 
America,  but  from  the  desire  of  maintaining  the  constitutional 
authority  of  Parliament  over  the  colonies ;  deplored  in  com- 
mon with  the  opposition,  the  misfortunes  which  had  marked 
the  progress  of  the  contest ;  defied  the  threat  of  punishment ; 
and  finally  adjured  the  House  not  to  aggravate  the  present 
calamity  by  dejection  or  despair,  but  by  united  exertion,  to 
secure  our  national  extrication. 

Such  a  picture  of  the  consternation  of  the  British  Court, 
on  hearing  this  disastrous  news  of  the  ignominious  wreck  of 
a  second  army  in  America,  has  never  before  been  furnished 
to  the  public  eye  ;  and  significantly  suggests  how  the  stento- 
rian words  of  "Sam/'  "  I  am  master  here!"  rung  porten- 
tously even  at  that  early  period,  in  the  ears  of  the  hoary  and 
feeble  despotisms  of  the  Old  World. 


364:  HISTORICAL  AND 

"  Sam  "  was  now  a  freeman  ;  and  "  youngling  "  as  he  was, 
the  weight  of  his  ponderous  limbs  had,  even  through  the 
storm  and  crash  of  battle,  made  verge  and  room  enough 
whereon  to  stretch  themselves  at  ease  on  their  "  old  couch 
of  space." 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Trouble  with  the  Indians— Tecumseh's  League — General  Harrison — Battles 
with  the  Indians — The  British  treat  with  them — Death  of  Tecumseh. 

JOHN  Bull  seems  to  have  had  enough  of  "  Sam,"  after  the 
surrender  of  Cornwallis,  to  stay  his  stomach  for  the  present. 
That  portly  gentleman  would  appear  now  to  have  come  to 
the  conclusion,  that  he  had  counted  rather  much  upon  the 
respect  due  to  age,  plethora,  and  gout,  and  to  have  become 
rapidly  more  philosophical,  and  more  reasonable  in  his  views, 
as  to  his  own,  and  the  rights  of  others.  The  future  con- 
queror of  Napoleon  had  been  soundly  thrashed  by  a  big  baby, 
to  be  sure,  but  what  of  that? — many  a  kind,  but  uxorious 
father  had  been  conquered  by  big  babies  before,  through  the 
excess  of  his  parental  feeling — and  where  was  the  shame  ? 
It  was  all  human  nature,  to  say  the  most  of  it.  Babies  will 
be  fractious,  and  fathers  will  be  fond.  And  the  more  John 
reasoned,  and  philosophised,  the  more  reasonable  and  philo- 
sophical he  became,  of  course — until  finally  the  bright  idea 
illuminated  his  brain,  through  the  fumy  fog  of  after-dinner 
Port,  and  cigar,  that  it  might  be  well  to  let  the  poor  "  young- 
ling" up,  since  he  had  beaten  him  with  sufficient  severity 
for  this,  his  first  fall,  and  hoped,  in  the  gracious  serenity  of 
his  more  contemplative  and  propitious  mood,  that  the  rude, 
but  willful,  though  not  contumacious  boy,  might  still  have 
some  elements  of  submission  and  reformation  in  him.  And 
John  grinned  with  a  grim  smile,  as  he  hitched  up  the  already 
nearly  bursting  waistband,  which  heaved  with  the  throes  of 
beef,  plum-pudding,  and  paternal  sentiment.  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! 
the  wild,  young  dog !  I'll  let  him  up  now,  but  may  be  the 

31*  365 


366  HISTORICAL  AND 

next  time,  I  have  occasion  to  lay  my  hand  upon  him,  his 
mother  won't  know  him,  when  I  'm  done  with  him ! 

But  as  Mrs.  Bull  was  not  present,  to  say  whether  she 
thought  it  likely  she  would,  this  important  historical  problem 
must  remain  through  all  time  a  solemn  mystery,  to  be  solved 
by  some  transcendental  historian  of  the  Bancroft  order,  in 
some  remote  era  of  the  "spiritual"  regime,  which  is  now  so 
rapidly  approaching. 

Certainly  John  Bull  proved  himself  in  earnest  in  the  apos- 
tolic threat  of  the  "  laying  on  of-  hands,"  some  short  time 
afterward  —  as  we  simil  see  —  and  we  shall  see,  too,  the 
result. 

But  "  Sam,"  fortunately,  was  of  the  philosophic  tempera- 
ment too, — by  inheritance,  no  doubt — and  remained  very 
meekly  contented  with  the  drubbing  he  had  received,  and  a 
little  unimportant  concession  of  liberty  to  do  as  he  pleased 
hereafter.  To  be  sure  he  found  himself  with  an  empty 
treasury,  a  plundered,  ravaged  continent,  a  half-rebellious 
people  at  his  disposal,  but  managed  with  a  remarkable  pla- 
cidity, through  the  easy  temperament  for  which  he  is  noted, 
to  reconcile  himself — with  what  John  Bull  would  have  called 
a  vainglorious  contemplation  of  the  manifold  trophies  of  two 
entire  captured  armies,  and  the  paltry  pittance,  for  which  he 
was  obviously  indebted  to  paternal  magnanimity,  of  a  per- 
petual fief  to  lands,  demense  rents,  etc.,  to  which  he  naturally 
considered  himself,  in  all  humility,  somewhat  entitled,  by 
virtue  of  "  Squatter  Sovereignty."  To  be  sure,  "  Sam"  had 
never  been  a  tailor,  except  in  the  Eve  and  Adam  sense,  or 
the  "  Rough  and  Ready  " — and  therefore,  could  not  be  strictly 
considered  a  "  squatter."  As  it  was,  we  proceeded  very  meekly 
to  organize  a  government,  and  weld  a  constitution,  the  iron 
hinges  of  which  have  as  yet  successfully  resisted  the  shock 
of  all  elemental  forces,  which  have  been  brought  combined, 
against  it. 

This  achievement,  though,  no  doubt,  owing  to  the  inspira- 
tion of  filial  gratitude,  solely,  and  the  sentiment  of  thank- 
fulness for  his  .full  release,  through  the  gracious  and  benign 
magnanimity  of  his  new-found  and  portly  sire — for  we  had 
thought  "  Sam  "  the  child  of  the  elements  solely — neverthe- 
less placed  him  in  a  position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 


KE  VOLUTION  ARY   INCIDENTS.  367 

which  caused  Old  Empire  to  verily  stare  at  the  Young  Mon- 
strosity. 

The  Federal  Constitution  organized,  America  an  independ- 
dent  nation  of  the  earth,  and  Washington  inaugurated  as 
president,  we  must  leave  the  intervening  period  to  other  his- 
tories, and  make  a  long  stride  to  that  of  the  war  of  1812 
with  Tecumseh. 

The  pressure  of  Bonaparte's  commercial  system,  not  con- 
fined to  the  civilized  world,  was  felt  even  by  the  wild  tribes 
of  the  North  American  forests.  The  price  of  furs,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  exclusion  from  the  Continent  of  Europe,  their 
chief  market,  had  sunk  so  low  that  the  Indian  hunters  found 
their  means  of  purchase  from  the  traders  greatly  curtailed. 
The  rapid  extension  of  settlements  north  of  the  Ohio  had  not 
only  occasioned  an  alarming  diminution  of  game,  but,  in  the 
facilities  afforded  for  the  introduction  of  whisky,  had  inflicted 
a  still  greater  evil  on  the  Indians.  Among  those  tribes, 
D  -lawares,  Shawanese,  Wyandots,  Miamis,  and,  further  to  the 
northwest,  Ottowas,  Potawatomies,  Kickapoos,  Winnebagoes, 
and  Chippewas,  a  remarkable  influence  had  of  late  been 
established  by  two  twin  brothers  of  the  Shawanese  tribe,  who 
possessed  between  them  all  the  qualities  held  in  greatest 
esteem  by  the  Indians.  Tecumseh  was  an  orator  and  a  war- 
rior, active,  intrepid,  crafty,  and  unscrupulous.  His  brother, 
commonly  known  as  The  Prophet,  was  not  only  an  orator,  but 
a  "medicine  man7'  of  the  highest  pretensions,  claiming  to 
hold  direct  intercourse  with  the  Great  Spirit,  and  to  possess 
miraculous  powers.  He  announced  himself  as  specially  sent, 
and  instructed  to  require  of  the  red  men,  as  a  first  step 
toward  a  return  to  their  ancient  prosperity,  to  renounce  all 
those  innovations  borrowed  from  the  whites,  more  especially 
the  use  of  whisky,  which  had  made  them  the  slaves  of  the 
traders.  But  these  denunciations  were  not  limited  to  the 
vices  borrowed  from  the  white  men ;  they  were  equally  lev- 
elled at  those  approaches  to  civilization,  and  those  new  reli- 
gious opinions,  which  the  agents  of  the  government  on  the 
one  hand,  and  a  few  missionaries  on  the  other,  had  been 
laboring  to  introduce. 

Separating  himself  from  his  own  tribe,  which  was  slow,  at 
first,  in  recognizing  his  mission,  the  Prophet  had  established 
(1806)  a  village  of  his  own  at  Greenville,  near  the  western 


868  HISTORICAL  AND 

border  of  Ohio,  on  lands  already  ceded  to  the  United  States. 
Meanwhile  Tecumseh  traveled  from  tribe  to  tribe,  spreading 
everywhere  his  brother's  fame.  While  the  Prophet's  imme- 
diate followers,  engrossed  in  their  religious  exercises,  were 
often  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  it  was  reported,  and  believed 
at  a  distance,  that  he  could  make  pumpkins  as  big  as  a  wig- 
wam spring  out  of  the  ground  at  a  single  word,  along  with 
stalks  of  corn,  of  which  a  single  ear  would  suffice  to  feed  a 
dozen  men.  Denounced  by  the  chiefs  of  their  own  and 
the  neighboring  tribes  as  impostors,  they  retorted  by  charges 
of  subserviency  to  the  whites,  and  even  of  witchcraft,  a  very 
terrible  accusation  among  the  Indians,  under  which  they  pro- 
cured the  death  of  two  or  three  hostile  Delaware  Chiefs.  It 
was,  however,  among  the  more  remote  tribes  that  the  greater 
part  of  their  convicts  were  obtained  ;  and  this,  perhaps,  was 
one  reason  why  the  Prophet,  in  the  summer  of  1808,  removed 
his  village  to  the  Tippecanoe,  a  northern  branch  of  the  Upper 
Wabash,  a  spot  belonging  to  the  Miamis  and  Delawares,  but 
which  he  occupied  in  spite  of  their  opposition.  At  this  new 
village,  disciples  and  spectators  flocking  in  from  all  sides,  the 
Prophet  continued  to  celebrate  his  appointed  seasons  of  fasting 
and  exhortations :  religious  exercises,  which  were  intermin- 
gled with  or  followed  by  warlike  sports,  such  as  shooting  with 
bows,  by  which  the  rifle  was  to  be  superseded,  and  wielding 
the  stone  tomahawk  or  war-club,  ancient  Indian  weapons, 
before  the  hatchet  was  known. 

These  military  exercises,  and  an  alleged  secret  intercourse 
with  the  British  traders  and  agents,  had  drawn  upon  the 
Prophet  and  his  brother  the  suspicions  of  Harrison,  governor 
of  the  Indiana  Territory,  and  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs;  but  these  suspicions  were,  in  a  great  measure,  dis- 
pelled by  a  visit  which  the  Prophet  paid  to  Vincennes,  in 
which  he  assumed  the  character  of  a  warm  friend  of  peace, 
his  sole  object  being,  as  he  declared,  to  reform  the  Indians, 
and  especially  to  put  a  stop  to  the  use  of  whisky.  Not  long 
after  this  visit,  Harrison  held  a  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne  with 
the  Delawares,  Potawatomies,  Miamis,  Kickapoos,  Weas,  and 
Eel  River  Indians,  at  which,  in  consideration  of  annuities 
amounting  to  $2350,  and  of  presents  in  hand  to  the  value  of 
$8200,  he  obtained  a  cession  of  lands  extending  up  the 
Wabash  above  Terre  Haute,  and  including  the  middle  waters 


KE  VOLUTION  ARY   INCIDENTS.  869 

of  White  river.  Neither  the  Prophet  nor  the  tribe  to  which 
he  belonged  had  any  claim  to  these  lands,  except,  indeed, 
under  a  doctrine  which  he  had  lately  set  up,  that  all  the 
Indian  lands  belonged  to  all  the  tribes  in  common,  and  that 
none  could  be  sold  without  the  consent  of  all.  On  this 
ground  the  Prophet  and  his  brother  denounced  the  late 
treaty  as  void,  and  they  threatened  to  kill  all  the  chiefs 
concerned  in  making  it — a  threat  the  more  formidable,  in 
consequence  of  the  accession  to  the  Prophet's  party,  at  this 
moment,  of  the  Wyandots,  a  tribe  on  Lake  Erie,  not  numer- 
ous, but  famous  warriors,  and  regarded  with  great  respect  by 
all  the  northwestern  tribes,  who  called  them  uncles. 

In  consequence  of  new  reports  of  intended  hostilities,  Har- 
rison invited  the  Prophet  and  his  brother  to  a  new  interview, 
which  took  place  in  a  field  just  outside  the  village  of  Vin- 
cennes.  Though  requested  not  to  bring  more  than  thirty 
followers,  Tecumseh  came  attended  by  some  four  hundred 
warriors.  The  governor,  surrounded  by  several  hundred  of 
the  unarmed  townspeople,  was  seated  in  a  chair,  attended  by 
the  jduges  of  the  Territory,  by  several  officers  of  the  army, 
and  by  Winnemack,  a  friendly  Potawatomie  chief,  who  had 
on  this,  as  on  other  occasions,  given  notice  of  Tecumseh's 
designs.  Under  some  trees  on  the  border  of  the  field  were 
placed  a  sergeant  and  twelve  men  from  the  fort.  The 
Indians,  who  sat  in  a  semicircle  on  the  grass,  had  left  their 
rifles  at  their  camp,  but  they  had  their  tomahawks  by  them. 

Tecumseh,  in  his  opening  speech,  fully  avowed  the  design 
of  himself  and  his  brother  to  establish,  by  a  combination 
among  the  tribes,  the  principle  of  no  more  cessions  of  Indian 
lands  except  by  general  consent.  He  admitted  a  determina- 
tion to  kill  all  the  chiefs  concerned  in  the  late  treaty,  but 
disavowed  any  intention  to  make  war  upon  the  whites,  and 
denounced  those  who  had  accused  him  of  it  as  liars.  This 
was  aimed  at  Winnemack,  whom  Tecumseh  overwhelmed 
with  a  torrent  of  reproaches,  and  who,  as  he  sat  on  the 
ground,  near  Harrison's  chair,  secretly  charged  a  pistol,  and 
held  it  concealed,  ready  for  use. 

Harrison,  in  reply,  ridiculed  Tecumseh's  assertions  that 
the  Great  Spirit  had  intended  the  Indians  to  be  one  people ; 
for,  if  so,  why  had  he  put  different  tongues  into  their  heads  ? 


370  HISTORICAL  AND 

Why  had  he  not  given  them  one  language,  which  all  might 
understand?  The  land  in  dispute  had  been  bought  of  the 
Miamis,  whose  fathers  had  owned  it  while  the  fehawanese 
lived  in  Georgia ;  and  the  sale  had  been  consented  to  by  all 
the  tribes  who  by  occupancy  had  any  claim.  They  had  seen 
fit  to  sell  the  land,  and  what  business  had  the  Shawanese  to 
interpose  ?  Here  the  governor  paused  for  the  interpreter  to 
repeat  to  the  Indians  what  he  had  said,  in  the  midst  of  which 
Tecumseh  broke  in,  declaring,  with  violent  gesticulations, 
that  Jbhe  governor's  statements  were  false,  and  that  he  and 
the  United  States  had  cheated  and  imposed  upon  the  Indians. 
As  he  went  on  with  increased  vehemence,  his  warriors  sprang 
upon  their  feet  and  began  to  brandish  their  tomahawks. 
Harrison  started  from  his  chair  and  drew  his  sword,  as  did 
the  officers  who  stood  by ;  Winneinack  cocked  his  pistol ;  and 
the  unarmed  citizens  caught  up  such  missiles  as  came  to  hand, 
principally  brickbats  from  an  ancient  kiln.  The  guard  of 
soldiers  came  running  up,  and  were  about  to  fire,  but  were 
checked  by  the  governor,  who  asked  the  interpreters  what 
was  the  matter.  Being  told  what  Tecumseh  had  said,  Har- 
rison pronounced  him  a  bad  man,  with  whom  he  would  hold 
no  further  conference.  As  he  had  come  under  the  protection 
of  the  council  fire,  he  might  depart  in  safety,  but  he  must 
instantly  leave  the  neighborhood.  Thereupon  the  council 
broke  up,  and  Tecumseh  retired  to  his  camp. 

The  people  of  Vincennes  stood  to  their  arms,  expecting  an 
attack  that  night.  But,  changing  his  tactics,  Tecumseh  the 
next  morning  expressed  the  greatest  regret  at  the  violence 
into  which  he  had  been  betrayed,  and  requested  and  obtained 
another  interview.  This  time  his  deportment  was  dignified 
and  collected.  He  denied  any  intention  of  using  force, 
ascribing  the  demonstration  of  the  day  before  to  the  advice  of 
white  men — and  Harrison  had  enemies  in  the  Territory,  who 
had  accused  him  of  having  cheated  the  Indians — by  whom  he 
had  been  told  that,  if  he  made  a  vigorous  opposition  to  the 
treaty,  the  governor  would  be  recalled,  and  the  land  given 
up.  But,  though  he  disclaimed  any  hostile  intentions,  upon 
being  asked  whether  he  meant  to  interfere  with  the  survey 
of  the  land,  he  significantly  replied  that  he  should  adhere 
to  the  old  boundary.  He  was  followed  by  a  Wyandot,  a 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  371 

Potawatomie,  an  Ottawa,  a  Kickapoo,  and  a  Winnebago,  all  of 
whom  declared  their  adherence,  and  that  of  their  tribes,  to 
the  new  confederacy. 

Anxious  to  ascertain  Tecumseh's  real  feelings  and  inten- 
tions, Harrison  paid  him  a  visit  in  his  camp.  He  expressed, 
on  this  occasion,  great  reluctance  to  go  to  war  with  the 
Americans,  and  promised,  if  the  recent  cessions  were  given 
up,  and  the  principle  adopted  of  taking  no  more  land  from 
the  Indians  without  the  consent  of  all  the  tribes,  to  be  a 
faithful  ally,  and  to  assist  the  Americans  in  any  war  with 
the  British ;  otherwise,  though  well  aware  that  the  pretended 
friendship  of  the  British  was  all  for  their  own  purposes,  he 
should  be  obliged  to  join  them.  Harrison,  though  he  held 
out  no  hope  of  success,  promised  to  lay  the  matter  before 
the  President. 

Numerous  complaints,  some  months  after,  from  the  frontier, 
of  horses  stolen,  houses  plundered,  and  even  alleged  murders, 
caused  Harrison  to  send  word  to  Tecumseh  that,  if  he  did  not 
put  a  stop  to  these  outrages,  he  might  expect  to  be  attacked. 
Tecumseh  replied  by  a  personal  visit,  but  with  no  satisfactory 
result.  Shortly  after,  he  started  on  a  journey  to  the  South, 
in  hope  to  bring  the  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws  into 
his  confederacy.  Among  the  Creeks  especially  he  might 
hope  for  some  influence,  as  his  mother  had  belonged  to  that 
tribe. 

Harrison  had  suggested  to  the  administration  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  post  high  up  the  Wabash,  and  they  had  pro- 
posed the  seizing  of  Tecumseh  and  his  brother  as  hostages 
for  peace.  Boyd's  regiment  of  regular  infantry  had  been 
for  some  time  stationed  at  Pittsburgh,  with  a  view  to  possi- 
ble operations  in  the  West.  Fresh  complaints  coining  from 
the  Illinois  Territory,  Boyd  was  directed  to  place  himself 
under  Harrison's  command.  Harrison  was  authorized,  should 
the  Prophet  commence  or  threaten  hostilities,  to  attack  him, 
and  to  call  out  militia  for  that  purpose ;  but  considering  the 
threatening  state  of  relations  with  Great  Britain,  much  anx- 
iety was  at  the  same  time  expressed  for  the  preservation  of 
peace.  The  people  of  Vincennes  and  its  neighborhood, 
dreaded  being  suddenly  attacked  at  any  time.  They  were 
eager  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  ;  and,  though  somewhat  em- 
barrassed by  his  orders,  Harrison  thought  that  policy  the 


372  HISTORICAL  AND 

best.  With  Boyd's  regiment,  about  three  hundred  strong, 
and  some  five  hundred  militia,  partly  from  Kentucky,  includ- 
ing two  or  three  mounted  companies,  advancing  some  sixty 
miles  up  the  Wabash  to  Terre  Haute,  he  established  a  post 
there,  named  after  himself ;  and  thence  he  dispatched  some 
Delaware  chiefs,  that  tribe  still  remaining  friendly,  on  a 
mission  to  the  Prophet.  These  messengers  were  very  ill 
received,  and  were  dismissed  with  insults  and  contempt.  The 
troops  then  advanced,  and,  after  eight  days7  cautious  march, 
encamped  within  ten  miles  of  the  Prophet's  town.  The 
march  being  resumed  the  next  day,  small  parties  of  Indians 
began  to  appear,  with  whom  it  was  in  vain  attempted  to 
communicate;  but  within  three  miles  of  the  town,  some 
chiefs  came  forward,  who  asked  the  meaning  of  this  hostile 
movement ;  urged  the  Prophet's  desire  for  peace  ;  and  ob- 
tained a  halt,  and  the  appointment  of  a  council  for  the  mor- 
row. The  army  encamped  in  a  hollow  square,  surrounded 
by  a  chain  of  sentinels,  the  troops  sleeping  on  their  arms, 
with  orders,  if  attacked,  to  maintain  their  position  at  all 
hazards.  Just  before  daybreak — the  light  of  the  moon,  then 
in  its  third  quarter,  obscured  by  clouds,  with  an  occasional 
drizzle  of  rain — an  alarm  was  given  by  the  discharge  of  a 
gun  by  one  of  the  sentinels,  followed  by  the  Indian  yell, 
and  a  desperate  rush  and  heavy  fire  upon  the  left  rear  angle 
of  the  camp.  The  Indians  had  crept  close  to  the  sentinels, 
designing  to  overpower  them  by  surprise.  The  men  stood  at 
once  to  their  arms.  All  the  camp-fires  were  immediately 
extinguished,  lest  they  might  serve  to  guide  the  aim  of  the 
Indians.  The  attack  soon  extended  to  almost  the  whole 
square,  the  Indians  advancing  and  retiring  at  a  signal  made 
by  the  rattling  of  deer's  hoofs.  Not  being  able  to  break 
the  square,  and  being  charged,  soon  after  daylight,  by  the 
mounted  men,  they  presently  disappeared,  carrying  off  their 
wounded,  but  leaving  forty  dead  on  the  field.  This  battle, 
for  the  present,  ended  the  war  with  the  Indians,  until  Te- 
cumseh,  after  the  declaration  of  the  war  of  1812,  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  English,  when  it  was  resumed  with  all 
its  terror.  The  final  death  of  Tecumseh,  which  occurred 
soon  after,  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  broke  up  the  formi- 
dable alliance  among  ten  Indian  tribes,  of  which  he  was  the 
head,  and  defeated,  finally,  his  grand  and  masterly  scheme, 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  373 

ot  ,  mihilating  the  entire  western  settlements,  by  a  combi- 
nation of  all  the  savage  tribes  of  the  West  and  North. 

The  death  of  Tecumseh,  in  this  battle,  was  in  reality  one 
of  the  gieat  events  of  western  history.  The  circumstances 
of  his  fall,  of  which  so  great  use  has  been  made  for  paltry 
political  ends,  which  attributed  it  to  the  prowess  of  Colonel 
Richard  M.  Johnson,  that  Ethiop-loving  demagogue  of  the 
democracy,  have  been,  for  the  first  time,  properly  delineated 
in  our  cut.  He  was  undoubtedly  slain  by  Colonel  Whitley, 
of  the  Kentucky  mounted  men,  in  a  single-hand  conflict, 
and  we  have  furnished  a  correct  portrait  of  the  noble  horse 
which  he  rode  on  the  occasion,  and  which,  wounded  by  the 
last  shot  from  the  pistol  of  Tecumseh,  survived,  and  finally 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  father  of  the  present  nar- 
rator. This  event'virtually  ended  the  war,  in  this  direction. 

This  expedition  gave  rise  to  abundant  discussions.  Har- 
rison's consenting  to  suspend  his  march ;  his  selection  of  a 
camp  so  near  the  Indians ;  his  omission  to  fortify  it,  for 
which  the  want  of  axes  was  pleaded  in  excuse ;  and  his  con- 
duct also  during  the  battle,  were  all  very  closely  canvassed. 
A  dispute  also  arose,  as  to  whether  the  merits  of  the  repulse 
belonged  to  him  or  to  Boyd.  Harrison,  however,  was  sus- 
tained,'and  his  conduct  approved  by  the  President,  and  by 
resolutions  of  the  Legislatures  of  Kentucky  and  Indiana; 
and  such  was  the  general  impression  throughout  the  West, 
as  to  give  him  a  decided  military  reputation. 

The  question  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  which  it  is  well 
remembered  turned  solely  upon  the  question  of  embargo, 
and  the  right  of  impressment,  which  Johnny  Bull,  with  the 
full  recollection  of  his  reserved,  apostolic  right  of  the  "lay- 
ing on  of  hands,"  claimed  that  he  possessed  the  power  of 
enforcing,  to  the  virtual  ruin  of  our  national  commerce  and 
navy,  caused  immense  discussion,  in  which  the  most  brilliant 
of  the  children  of  "  Sam  "  developed  their  finest  powers  of 
oratory  and  invective,  pro  and  con. 

Randolph,  with  his  fierce  wit  and  demoniac  satire,  stood 
like  the  incarrate  ghost  of  famine,  in  the  halls  of  our  Con- 
gress, hurling  savage  epithets  at  the  heads  of  the  promoters 
of  the  war ;  shaking  his  spectral  finger,  with  terrible  de- 
nunciations, at  the  eloquent  and  subtle  Clay,  whose  clarion 
voice,  the  very  music  of  war,  had  roused  our  people  to  battle 
32 


374  HISTORICAL  AND 

against  the  predominating  insolence  of  British  naval  ascend 
ancy.  But  Randolph  squeaked  his  dire  epithets  in  vain — a 
stronger  spell  than  he  could  wake  was  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  people — and,  in  spite  of  Tories,  Jesuits,  and  Quakers, 
the  nation  rose  up  as  one  man,  and  drove  the  vaunted  tyrant 
of  the  seas  from  our  waters,  more  humiliated  than  ever. 

This  time  pursy  John  Bull  did  "  give  up  the  ship  ;  "  Sam  " 
had  thrashed  him  on  the  land  before,  and  now  it  became 
necessary  to  thrash  him  on  the  sea,  which,  in  the  glorious 
battles  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Guerriere,  the  United 
States  and  the  Macedonian,  the  Wasp  and  the  Hornet,  he 
quickly  demonstrated,  that  on  whatever  element  he  chose  to 
carry  his  arms  and  his  commerce,  they  should  be  respected. 
Nor  did  he  find  it  necessary  to  bombard  any  Greytowns,  at 
that,  or  perform  any  other  such  superlative  heroics. 

Now,  too,  culminated  the  reputations  of  Jackson,  Harri- 
son, and  Scott — stalwart  men,  all,  and  good  generals.  The 
first,  the  greatest,  and  strongest  since  Washington,  the  man 
of  iron  will  and  lofty  aim,  the  rude,  unlettered  hero  of  the 
savage  West !  the  gaunt  Titan  of  modern  pigmies  of  demo- 
cracy !  Who  can  forget  his  long  career  of  opposition  and 
dauntless  conquest  against  aggressions  of  all  kinds,  whether 
military,  political,  or  social? 

It  would  be  impossible  for  us,  within  our  narrow  limits,  to 
follow  up,  in  detail,  the  incidents  of  this  important  war. 
We  can  do  nothing  more  than  glance  at  some  of  its  impor- 
tant events.  We  will  only  mention,  that  throughout  its 
entire  course,  the  whole  conduct  of  John  Bull  exhibked  a 
most  unrelenting  determination  to  consummate  the  purposes 
of  his  avowed  vengeance. 

In  doing  this,  he  scrupled  at  no  intrigue,  however  infa- 
mous, no  strategy,  however  brutal,  and  no  affiliation,  how- 
ever debasing.  He,  without  hesitation,  sought  the  aid  of 
the  French  Jesuits,  whom  he  hated  and  feared  more  than 
any  other  power,  except  that  of  the  recreant  "  Sam,"  upon 
whom  he  was  sworn  to  be  avenged ;  and,  through  their 
agency,  he  formed  treaties  with  the  savage  tribes  of  the  con- 
tinent, over  whom  they  had  now  obtained  ascendancy,  north 
and  south,  made  them  the  medium  of  his  revengeful  largess 
in  arms,  ammunition,  and  money,  and  thus  turned  them 
loose  from  every  "  Reduction  " — the  cordon  of  which  had 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  375 

now  been  completed  by  the  intrigues  of  these  holy  fathers, 
who  gladly  availed  themselves  of  such  temporary  alliance 
with  their  old  foes,  to  wreak  their  own  hoarded  vengeance 
against  the  Protestant  cause. 

Thus  inflamed,  the  sanguinary  savages  of  the  entire  con- 
tinent were  turned  loose  upon  the  women  and  children  of 
our  vast  and  defenseless  borders,  and  the  war  assumed  many 
aspects  of  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  horror,  which  had 
remained,  until  now,  to  assume  their  full  sanguinary 
coloring. 

The  battle  in  which  Perry  so  singularly  defeated  the 
entire  naval  force  of  John  Bull,  upon  the  Northern  Lakes, 
was  the  first  and  most  important  check  which  his  hired  bri- 
gands received  during  the  war.  Jackson's  operations  con- 
summated, by  the  battle  of  the  Great  Horse-shoe  Bend,  and 
the  submission  of  the  Creeks  inforced  a  peace  with  the 
Southern  Indians. 

Brown's  invasion  of  Canada,  and  the  battle  of  Chippewa, 
in  which  the  young  Scott  distinguished  himself,  and  the 
battle  of  Bridgewater,  and  the  siege  of  Fort  Erie,  followed 
in  rapid  succession.  The  march  on  Washington,  the  battle 
of  Bladensburg,  and  the  attack  and  defense  of  Baltimore, 
which  rapidly  succeeded  the  capture  of  the  capital,  were  soon 
followed  by  the  advance  on  and  the  battle  of  Plattsburg,  and 
the  retreat  of  the  British,  which  virtually  ended  the  war  in 
the  North. 

Then  came  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  of  which  we  shall 
give*  some  more  detailed  account. 

Previous  to  Jackson's  arrival  at  New  Orleans,  everything 
had  remained  there,  intervening  dilapidations  excepted,  in 
the  same  condition  in  which  Wilkinson  had  left  it,  a  stop 
having  been  put,  immediately  after  his  departure,  to  every 
measure  of  defense  which  he  had  commenced.  The  total 
population  of  Louisiana  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  thousand, 
of  whom  half  were  slaves  or  free  people  of  color.  New 
Orleans  had  about  twenty  thousand,  of  whom  less  than  half 
were  whites.  Of  these  whites  a  large  portion  were  French 
Creoles,  while  there  were  also  many  adventurers  of  foreign 
birth,  whose  attachment  to  the  United  States  was  not  impli- 
citly relied  upon.  The  adjoining  districts  of  Mississippi  con- 
tained not  above  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  of  whom  half 


376  HISTORICAL  AND 

were  slaves.  In  consequence  of  communications  sent  by 
General  Jackson  from  Mobile,  Governor  Claiborne  had 
ordered  all  the  militia  of  Louisiana  to  hold  themselves  in 
resdiness  for  instant  service,  those  of  the  city  to  exercise 
twice  a  week,  and  those  of  the  country  half  as  often.  A 
public  meeting  was  soon  after  called  in  New  Orleans  and  a 
committee  of  defense  organized,  of  which  Edward  Livingston 
was  appointed  chairman.  Having  recovered  possession  at 
last  of  his  batture,  Livingston  had  begun  to  rise  above  the 
wave  of  obloquy  with  which  he  had  been  so  long  overwhelmed  ; 
but  he  was  still  so  unpopular,  and  such  were  the  local  jeal- 
ousies and  quarrels,  that  another  and  rival  committee  of 
defense  was  presently  organized.  Determined  to  avail  him- 
self of  every  means  of  defense,  Jackson  issued  from  Mobile 
an  affectionate  address  to  "  the  noble-hearted,  generous,  free 
men  of  color.'7  Repudiating  the  mistaken  policy  which  had 
hitherto  excluded  them  from  the  military  service,  he  called 
on  them  to  enroll  themselves  in  a  distinct  corps — a  call  to 
which  they  quickly  responded,  under  an  act  of  the  Louisiana 
legislature,  called  together  in  special  session,  and  by  which 
a  joint  committee  of  defense  was  appointed,  apparently,  how- 
ever, with  very  little  hopes  that  any  very  serious  attack 
could  be  withstood. 

The  arrival  of  Jackson,  who  was  soon  followed  by  a  few 
regulars  from  Mobile,  served  to  give  some  encouragement. 
But  he  saw  at  once  that  he  must  rely  for  defense  mainly  on 
exterior  resources ;  nor  were  there  any  to  which  he  could 
look  except  Coffee's  brigade,  which,  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  British  from  Pensacola,  he  had  ordered  to  march  for  the 
Mississippi,  and  other  detachments  of  militia  from  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  called  for  some  time  before,  and  expected 
down  the  river,  but  which,  as  yet,  had  scarcely  set  out.  Such, 
in  fact,  was  the  poverty  and  disorganization  of  the  quarter- 
master's department  in  the  West,  that  the  Kentucky  troops 
had  only  been  enabled  to  embark,  by  the  credit  of  individual 
citizens  pledged  for  the  necessary  supplies.  Intent  to  aug- 
ment his  forces  by  all  means,  Jackson  accepted  the  aid  of 
Lafitte  and  a  portion  of  the  Baratarian  buccaneers,  who  again 
tendered  their  services  on  condition  of  pardon.  The  convicts, 
also,  in  the  prison,  were  released  and  embodied. 

A  flat-bottomed  frigate,  commenced  by  Wilkinson,  and 


KE VOLUTION ABY   INCIDENTS.  877 

which  would  have  been  invaluable  at  the  present  moment, 
lay  unfinished  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pontchartrain.  The 
only  naval  force  on  that  lake  and  Lake  Borgne,  was  five  gun- 
boats and  a  small  schooner ;  these,  with  a  few  other  gun-boats 
and  barges  in  the  Mississippi,  the  schooner  Carolina  of  four- 
teen guns,  and  the  ship  Louisiana  of  sixteen,  the  latter  just 
taken  into  service,  constituted  the  whole  naval  means  of 
defending  the  water  approaches.  While  Jackson  was  inspect- 
ing the  forts  St.  Philip  and  Leon,  which  guarded  the  ascent 
of  the  river,  news  reached  New  Orleans  that  the  expected 
British  fleet  had  anchored  at  Cat  Island,  off  the  entrance  of 
Lake  Borgne.  The  force  on  board,  without  counting  four 
thousand  sailors  and  marines,  amounted,  as  it  afterward 
appeared,  to  twelve  thousand  men,  commanded  by  Packing- 
harn,  Keene,  Lambert,  and  Gibbs,  able  and  experienced  gen- 
erals of  Wellington's  late  Peninsular  army,  whence,  also,  the 
troops  had  mostly  been  drawn.  Some  forty  or  fifty  British 
barges  succeeded  after  a  hard  fight,  in  capturing  the  Amer- 
ican flotilla  on  Lake  Borgne,  thus  laying  open  the  passage 
to  New  Orleans ;  and  about  the  same  time,  the  post  called 
the  Balize,  at  the  entrance  of  the  river,  with  all  the  pilots 
stationed  there,  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands. 

The  Louisiana  militia  were  at  once  called  into  the  field ; 
but  a  serious  difficulty  arose  from  the  want  of  arms.  Jack- 
son, some  months  before,  had  called  for  a  supply  from  the 
arsenal  at  Pittsburg ;  but,  from  an  unwillingness  to  pay  the 
freight  demanded  by  the  only  steamer  which  then  navigated 
the  Mississippi,  these  necessary  means  of  defense  had  been 
shipped  in  keel  boats,  nor  did  they  arrive  till  the  fate  of  the 
city  had  been  decided.  Even  the  muskets  on  hand  would 
have  been  useless,  but  for  a  supply  of  flints  furnished  by 
Lafitte,  the  Baratarian  pirate.  The  Legislature  passed  an 
act  extending  for  four  months  the  payment  of  all  bills  and 
notes;  but  they  hesitated  to  suspend  the  habeas  corpus  act: 
whereupon  Jackson,  under  whose  command  Governor  Clai- 
borne  had  placed  himself  and  the  militia,  took  the  responsi- 
bility of  proclaiming  martial  law. 

Expresses  had  already  been  sent  up  the  river,  to  get  news, 

if  possible,  of  Coffee's  brigade,  and  of  the  militia  expected 

from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.     Coffee,  after  encountering 

great  hardships  from  excessive  rains  and  short  supplies,  had 

32* 


378  HISTORICAL  AND 

reached  the  neighborhood  of  Baton  Rouge  about  the  time 
that  the  British  appeared  off  Cat  Island.  On  receiving  Jack- 
son's orders,  he  had  marched  with  one  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  leaving  three  hundred  sick  behind,  and  push- 
ing forward  himself  with  eight  hundred  of  the  best  mounted, 
he  accomplished  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
in  two  days,  encamping  on  the  third  within  four  miles  of  the 
city.  A  body  of  Mississippi  dragoons,  which  had  marched 
from  Mobile  about  the  same  time,  arrived  shortly  after.  On 
news  of  Carroll's  approach  with  the  additional  Tennessee 
militia,  the  steamboat  which  had  just  arrived  from  Pittsburg 
had  been  sent  to  bring  them  down  ;  and  Jackson  thus  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  five  thousand  men,  of  whom  somewhat 
less  than  a  thousand  were  regulars. 

Meanwhile  the  British  Army,  advancing  in  their  light 
transports  to  the  head  of  Lake  Borgne,  under  the  pilotage  of 
some  Italian  fishermen  who  dwelt  in  that  neighborhood,  found 
a  water  passage  by  the  Bayou  Bienvenu,  to  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  Mississippi,  of  which  the  left  bank,  about 
fifteen  miles  below  New  Orleans,  was  gained  by  General 
Keene  with  an  advanced  party  of  two  thousand  light  troops. 
This  approach  from  the  front  was  a  fortunate  circumstance ; 
had  the  British  advanced  by  Lake  Pontchartrain ,  thus  cutting 
off  the  communication  of  New  Orleans  with  the  country  above, 
the  result  might  have  been  very  different. 

As  soon  as  Jackson  was  informed  of  this  lodgment,  leaving 
Carroll  and  the  Louisiana  country  militia  to  cover  the  city, 
he  marched  to  meet  the  enemy,  taking  with  him  the  regu- 
lars, the  city  militia,  Coffee's  brigade  dismounted,  and  the 
Mississippi  dragoons.  The  British  left  rested  on  the  river, 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  schooner  Carolina.  Coffee  was 
detached  to  gain  their  right,  while  Jackson,  with  the  rest  of 
the  troops,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  advanced  on  their 
front.  It  was  dark  before  the  action  began,  a  circumstance 
favorable  in  some  respects  to  the  raw  American  troops,  but 
preventing  co-operation,  and  producing  some  confusion.  The 
attack  was  made  with  vigor.  The  British,  greatly  annoyed 
by  the  fire  of  the  schooner,  were  driven  to  take  several  new 
positions  ;  but  at  last  they  got  into  a  very  strong  one,  between 
an  old  levee,  which  covered  them  from  the  schooner,  and  a 
new  one,  raised  within,  which  guarded  their  right ;  and 


[REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  379 

fi  ding  that  this  position  could  not  be  forced,  Jackson  retired 
wioh  a  loss  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners.  The  enemy's  loss  was  rather 
greater.  The  next  day  Jackson  took  up  a  position  behind  a 
deep  trench,  running  from  the  river  to  the  swamp,  at  a  point 
where  the  solid  land  between  was  less  than  a  mile  in  breadth, 
a  position  naturally  strong,  and  which  every  effort  Was  made 
to  strengthen.  Just  as  the  late  action  closed,  the  British 
had  been  joined  by  a  new  division  from  their  ships ;  but, 
alarmed  at  the  warm  reception  they  had  met,  and  ignorant 
of  Jackson's  force,  which  the  American  prisoners  greatly 
exaggerated,  instead  of  pressing  forward  at  once,  which  would 
have  been  their  best  chance,  they  waited  to  bring  up  rein- 
forcements and  artillery.  This  interval  was  diligently 
employed  by  Jackson  in  strengthening  his  position,  bales  of 
cotton  being  used  to  form  a  rampart,  which,  as  well  as  the 
ditch  in  front  of  it,  was  extended  into  the  swamp.  A  British 
battery,  established  on  the  levee,  succeded  in  destroying  the 
Carolina  by  hot  shot,  but  the  Louisiana  was  saved,  and  towed 
out  of  reach.  The  next  day  the  enemy  advanced  in  force, 
driving  in  Jackson's  outposts,  and  having  approached  within 
a  half  a  mile  of  his  lines,  they  opened  upon  them  with  artil- 
lery, bombs,  and  Congreve  rockets.  Jackson  had  five  pieces 
of  heavy  artillery  already  mounted,  and  served  by  the  crew 
of  the  Carolina.  These  guns,  aided  by  the  raking  fire  of 
the  Louisiana,  checked  the  enemy's  advance,  and  after  a  seven 
hours'  cannonade,  he  retired  with  considerable  loss. 

As  matters  thus  approached  a  crisis,  Jackson  and  Claiborne 
were  not  a  little  troubled  at  the  apprehension  of  treachery 
within  the  city.  Fulwar  Skip  worth,  who,  from  having  been 
governor  of  the  late  insurgent  republic  of  West  Florida,  was 
now  speaker  of  the  Louisiana  Senate,  had  made  some  inqui- 
ries of  Major  Butler,  left  in  command  at  New  Orleans,  as  to 
the  truth  of  a  rumor,  that,  rather  than  surrender,  Jackson 
would  destroy  the  city  and  retire  up  the  river,  from  whioh, 
and  other  circumstances,  it  was  conjectured  that  the  Legisla- 
ture might  intend  to  save  the  city  by  offering  to  capitulate. 
Jackson  directed  Clairborne,  in  case  any  move  was  made  in 
that  direction,  to  arrrest  the  members  of  the  Legislature ;  an 
order  to  which  Claiborne  gave  such  an  interpretation,  con- 
trary, it  wa,s  afterward  said,  to  Jackson's  intentions,  that, 


380  HISTORICAL  AND 

without  waiting  to  see  whether  there  were  any  grounds  foi 
his  suspicions,  he  placed  a  military  guard  at  the  door  of  the 
hall,  and  broke  up  the  legislative  session.  Jackson  alsc 
authorized  a  general  search  of  houses  and  stores  for  arms, 
and,  to  prevent  any  skulking  from  militia  duty,  he  directed 
a  registration  of  all  the  male  inhabitants. 

With  the  commencement  of  the  new  year,  the  enemy 
renewed  his  attack  with  more  and  heavier  artillery ;  but,  in 
the  interval,  the  works  had  been  much  strengthened ;  and, 
after  a 'heavy  cannonade,  the  British  guns  were  dismounted 
and  silenced.  Jackson's  preparations  for  defense  were  not 
confined  to  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  By  the  Bay  of  Bara- 
taria  and  the  inlets  connected  with  it,  the  bank  opposite  the 
city  might  be  approached,  without  passing  the  forts  on  the 
river ;  and  to  guard  against  attack  from  that  quarter,  Gen- 
eral Morgan  had  been  sent  across,  with  orders  to  throw  up 
defenses  like  those  on  the  eastern  side.  At  last  the  long 
expected  Kentuckians  arrived — 2250  men,  led  by  General 
Adair,  that  old  friend  of  Burr's — but  half  of  them  were 
without  arms,  which  Jackson  could  not  furnish.  Detachments 
of  these  Kentuckians  and  of  the  Louisiana  militia  were  sent 
to  join  Morgan,  whose  force  was  thus  raised  to  1500  men, 
stationed  behind  an  intrenchment,  defended  by  several  brass 
twelves  and  by  a  battery  of  twenty  four-pounders,  commanded 
by  Commodore  Patterson.  The  men  without  arms  were  em- 
ployed by  Jackson  upon  a  second  line  of  intrenchments,  as  a 
place  of  rally  should  he  be  driven  from  his  first  line. 

Preparations  had  meanwhile  been  made  by  the  British  for 
a  grand  attack.  Boats  having  been  drawn,  with  great  labor, 
from  the  bayou  into  the  river,  Colonel  Thornton  was  sent 
across  in  the  night,  with  a  British  detachment,  to  assault 
Morgan.  At  the  same  time,  under  the  fire  of  a  battery  of 
six  eighteen  pounders,  erected  also  during  the  night,  the 
main  body,  led  by  Packenham  in  person,  advanced  to  storm 
Jackson's  position.  "  Booty  and  beauty,"  such  was  the  watch- 
word; comment  enough  on  British  military  morals.  One 
column  marched  by  the  river,  and,  without  much  difficulty, 
carried  an  advanced  redoubt,  by  the  guns  of  which  the 
approach  to  the  American  line  was  raked  through  its  whole 
extent.  The  other  and  main  column,  led  by  Gibbs  and 
Keene,  approached  that  part  of  the  American  line  nearest 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  381 

to  the  fatal  fire  of  the  Tennessee  sharp-shooters,  and  of  nine 
pieces  of  heavy  artillery,  was  speedily  thrown  into  confusion. 
Packing-ham,  in  attempting  to  restore  order,  was  killed  ;  the 
other  two  generals  were  wounded,  Gribbs  mortally ;  and  after 
an  hour's  struggle,  and  two  unsuccessful  advances.  Lambert, 
who  succeeded  to  the  command,  was  obliged  to  withdraw,  at 
the  same  time  abandoning  the  redoubt  on  the  river,  which  the 
other  column  had  carried.  Thornton,  on  the  opposite  bank,  not- 
withstanding some  delay  in  his  advance,  had  proved  entirely 
successful,  and  the  position  he  had  gained  would  have  given 
great  advantage  for  renewing  the  attack.  But  the  British 
army  had  lost  two  thousand  men  in  killed  and  wounded ;  and 
Lambert,  dreading  still  further  disasters,  hastened  to  with- 
draw Thornton's  troops,  and  to  abandon  the  whole  enterprise. 
Having  taken  all  proper  precautions  to  cover  his  retreat,  he 
first  fell  back  to  the  original  landing  place  on  Lake  Borgne, 
from  which  point  the  army  was  presently  re-embarked. 
Jackson's  loss  was  but  trifling,  only  seventy-one  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  while  his  total  loss  in  the  campaign  had 
been  but  three  hundred  and  thirty- three.  But  with  his  raw 
troops,  whose  flight  before  Thornton  had  shown  how  little  they 
could  be  depended  on,  he  did  not  choose  to  risk  anything  in 
attempting  to  intercept  the  enemy's  retreat,  who,  retiring 
first  to  Cat  Island,  proceeded  thence,  as  if  not  to  fail  entirely, 
to  the  attack  and  capture  of  Fort  Bowyer.  About  the  same 
time  the  enemy  withdrew  from  the  coast  of  Georgia ;  but 
not  until  they  had  caused  a  proclamation  of  martial  law,  and 
had  thrown  that  State,  and  South  Carolina  also,  into  a  par- 
oxysm of  alarm. 

Humors  of  Jackson's  successes  beginning  to  arrive  at 
Washington,  successes  which  the  administration,  so  far  as 
anything  had  been  done  by  them,  had  very  little  right  to 
expect,  came  like  an  exhilarating  cordial  to  the  baffled  and 
mortified  war  party.  Confirmations,  with  additional  particu- 
lars, continued  to  arrive,  and  to  be  welcomed  with  the  loudest 
exultations ;  but,  before  the  whole  story  was  known,  the 
public -attention  was  drawn  off  to  a  fresh  piece  of  news,  of 
even  greater  interest  and  importance. 

The  British  sloop  of  war  Favorite,  arriving  at  New  York 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  brought  two  messengers,  one  British, 


382  HISTORICAL  AND 

the  other  American,  bearers  of  an  unexpected  treaty  of  peace, 
already  ratified  by  the  British  government.  It  was  late  of  a 
Saturday  night ;  but  no  sooner  was  the  joyful  word  PEACE  cir- 
culated through  the  city — and  it  spread  like  electricity — than, 
without  stopping  to  inquire  or  to  think  about  the  terms,  the 
whole  active  population,  of  all  parties,  rushed  into  the  streets 
in  a  perfect  ecstasy  of  delight ;  and,  amid  shouts,  illumina- 
tions, and  a  perfect  uproar  of  joy,  expresses  were  sent  oft', 
north  and  south,  with  the  news.  In  thirty-two  hours  (thought 
to  be  a  great  effort  of  speed)  the  announcement  reached 
Boston,  where  it  was  received  on  Monday  morning  with  the 
most  clamorous  rejoicings.  All  the  bells  were  at  once  set  to 
ringing;  messengers  were  despatched  in  every  direction  to 
spread  the  delightful  intelligence ;  the  schools  received  a 
holyday;  the  whole  population,  quitting  their  employments, 
hastened  to  congratulate  each  other  at  this  relief,  not  only 
from  foreign  war,  but  from  the  still  more  dreadful  impending 
cloud  of  internal  and  civil  struggle.  The  blockaded  snipping, 
rotting  forlorn  at  the  wharves,  got  out  all  their  flags  and 
streamers,  and,  before  night,  once  more  the  hum  of  commerce 
sounded,  ship-carpenters  and  riggers  were  busy  at  work,  car- 
goes were  being  shipped,  and  crews  engaged.  The  joy  was 
the  same  along  the  whole  maritime  frontier  ;  nor,  however 
they  might  strive  to  conceal  their  emotions,  was  it  less  among 
the  politicians  at  Washington,  including  those  most  forward 
to  precipitate  their  country  into  a  struggle  so  unequal  and 
disastrous.  At  the  same  time  they  made  a  very  dexterous 
use  of  the  sudden  halo  of  glory  diffused  by  Jackson's  victory, 
to  conceal  from  themselves,  as  well  as  from  the  people,  the 
desperate  point  to  which  affairs  had  been  reduced.  Troup 
had  the  audacity  to  congratulate  the  House  even  before  the 
contents  of  the  treaty  were  known,  it  having  but  just  been 
laid  before  the  Senate,  on  the  glorious  termination  of  the 
most  glorious  war  ever  waged  by  any  people — provided,  as  he 
cautiously  added,  that  the  treaty  should  prove  an  honora- 
ble one ! 

The  weakness  of  the  British  possessions  in  North  America ; 
the  necessity  of  some  barrier  against  that  ambitious  spirit 
admirals  and  vice-admirals  failed,  as  the  same  proposal 
has  often  done  since,  but  an  important  change  was  made  in 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  383 

of  annexation  exhibited  in  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  the 
threatened  conquest  of  Canada,  and  the  constant  curtailment 
of  the  Indian  territory,  these  had  been  stated  by  the  British 
commissioners,  at  the  opening  of  the  negotiation,  as  grounds 
of  their  claim  for  an  assignment  to  the  British  Indian  allies, 
of  a  permanent  neutral  territory,  with  a  prohibition  to  the 
United  States  to  establish  fortresses  or  keep  ships  on  the 
great  lakes.  The  American  commissioners  had  protested,  in 
reply,  against  this  attempted  interference  with  the  Indians, 
as  a  thing  which  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  had  never  per- 
mitted in  her  own  case,  and  as  contrary  to  the  assurances 
originally  given  of  a  disposition  to  treat  on  terms  of  perfect 
reciprocity.  They  denied,  with  emphasis,  that  the  conquest 
of  Canada  had  ever  been  a  declared  object  of  the  war ;  and 
they  dwelt  on  the  humane  disposition  of  their  government 
toward  the  Indians,  protesting,  also,  against  the  British 
employment  of  Indian  auxiliaries.  Finally,  after  some 
pretty  sharp  controversy,  the  British  commissioners  had 
agreed  to  be  content  with  a  mutual  stipulation  for  peace 
with  the  Indians,  the  tribes  still  actively  engaged  in  hostili- 
ties at  the  close  of  the  war,  to  be  restored  to  the  same  position 
in  which  they  had  stood  at  its  commencement.  This  question 
disposed  of  by  the  provisional  assent  of  the  American  com- 
missioners, the  next  related  to  boundaries.  The  false  idea 
that  the  Mississippi  had  its  source  north  of  the  forty-ninth 
degree  of  latitude,  had  rendered  nugatory  the  provision  of 
the  treaty  of  1783  as  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United 
States,  west  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  That  boundary, 
indeed,  since  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  remained  to  be 
extended  far  to  the  west,  the  United  States  claiming,  under 
that  cession,  even  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  provision  for  a 
boundary  on  the  northeast,  so  far  as  related  to  the  territory 
between  the  head  of  the  St.  Croix  and  the  head  of  the  Con- 
necticut, had  likewise  failed,  so  the  British  commissioners 
contended,  from  similar  geographical  ignorance ;  and,  as  the 
basis  of  a  new  arrangement,  they  had  suggested  that  each 
party  should  retain  what  he  held  at  the  signing  of  the  treaty. 
To  this  the  American  commissioners  had  refused  to  agree. 
So  the  negotiation  had  stood  at  the  latest  accounts  previous 
to  the  arrival  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 

The  treaty,  as  signed,  provided  for  the  mutual  restoration 


384  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

of  all  conquered  territory,  and  for  the  appointment  of  three 
commissions :  one  to  settle  the  title  to  the  islands  in  Passam- 
aquoddy  Bay  ;  another  to  mark  out  the  northeastern  boundary 
as  far  as  the  St.  Lawrence  ;  and  a  third  to  run  the  line 
through  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lakes,  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods.  In  case  of  disagreement  in  either  commission,  the 
point  in  dispute  was  to  he  referred  to  some  friendly  Power. 
No  provision  was  made  as  to  the  boundary  west  of  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods,  nor  as  to  the  fishery  on  the  shores  of  British 
America.  The  British  commissioners  refused  to  accept,  in 
return  for  this  right  of  fishing,  a  modified  renewal  of  the 
article  for  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  in  their 
view,  was  also  terminated  by  the  war.  The  result,  therefore, 
was,  that,  instead  of  leaving  the  parties  where  they  began, 
the  war  took  away  from  Great  Britain  a  nominal  right,  never 
used,  of  navigating  the  Mississippi,  and  from  the  New  Eng- 
land fishermen  a  valuable  right,  hitherto  used  from  the 
earliest  times,  of  catching  and  curing  fish  on  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  loss  of  which  long  continued 
to  be  felt.  Hostilities  on  land  were  to  terminate  with  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  on  the  ocean  in  certain  specified 
periods,  according  to  distances,  of  which  the  longest  was 
four  months.  By  some  adroit  management,  the  English 
commissioners  were  induced  to  admit  into  the  treaty  a  clause 
copied  from  that  of  1783,  with  the  history  of  which  probably 
they  were  not  familiar,  against  carrying  away  "  any  negroes 
or  other  property.7'  The  only  remaining  article  related  to 
the  slave  trade,  for  the  suppression  of  which,  as  irreconcilable 
with  the  principles  of  humanity  and  justice,  both  parties 
promised  to  use  their  best  endeavors. 

The  treaty,  having  been  unanimously  ratified  and  formally 
promulgated,  was  celebrated  everywhere  throughout  the 
country  with  the  loudest  rejoicings.  The  Federalists,  and 
all  the  more  sensible  Republicans,  considered  the  country 
lucky  in  the  peace,  such  as  it  was.  The  violent  war  men, 
greatly  cooled  by  this  time,  concealed  their  mortification 
behind  the  smoke  of  Jackson's  victory,  and  vague  declama- 
tions about  the  national  rights  vindicated,  the  national  char- 
acter exalted,  and  the  military  and  naval  glory  of  the  war. 
Considering  the  new  demands  of  Great  Britain,  put  forward 
at  Ghent,  they  seemed  to  esteem  it  a  triumph  to  be  allowed 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  385 

to  stop  where  they  began,  leaving  the  whole  question  of 
impressments  and  neutral  rights,  the  sole  ostensible  occasion 
of  the  war,  withoat  a  word  said  on  the  subject,  to  be  settled 
at  some  convenient  opportunity :  a  common  termination  of 
wars,  even  for  the  most  powerful  and  belligerent  nations,  and 
of  which  Great  Britain  herself  has  given  more  than  one 
instance. 

The  war  thus  happily  ended,  Dallas's  bank  scheme,  which 
had  been  again  revived  and  carried  through  the  Senate,  was 
^definitely  postponed  in  the  House  by  a  majority  of  one  vote. 
Instead  of  the  scheme  of  finance  which  he  had  proposed,  a 
loan  of  $1 8, 400,000  was  authorized,  being  the  amount  of 
treasury  notes  outstanding ;  and,  as  immediate  means  to  go 
on  with,  new  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five 
millions.  A  part  of  these  notes,  to  be  issued  in  sums  under 
a  hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the  bearer,  and  without  inter- 
est, were  intended  to  serve  as  a  currency.  Those  over  a 
hundred  dollars  were  to  bear  an  interest  of  five  and  two-fifths 
per  cent., — a  cent  and  a  half  a  day  for  every  hundred  dollars. 
Both  kinds  were  to  be  receivable  for  all  public  dues,  and  fund- 
able  at  the  pleasure  of  the  holder — those  bearing  interest, 
in  six  per  cent,  stock,  and  those  without  interest  in  seven  per 
cent,  stock. 

Haste  was  made  to  repeal,  in  favor  of  all  reciprocating 
nations,  the  act  imposing  discriminating  duties  on  foreign 
vessels,  and  all  remnants  and  remainders,  if  any  there  were, 
of  the  old  non-intercourse  and  non-importation  acts;  also  an 
act  passed  only  a  few  days  before,  containing  many  strong 
provisions,  some  of  them  of  very  questionable  constitution- 
ality, for  the  extinguishment  of  trade  and  intercourse  with 
Great  Britain.  The  commissioners  at  Ghent,  before  termi- 
nating their  mission,  signed  a  commercial  convention  for 
four  years,  copied  substantially  from  Jay's  treaty,  but  with 
an  additional  proviso  for  absolute  reciprocity  in  the  direct 
trade,  by  the  abolition,  on  both  sides,  of  all  discriminations. 

Appropriations  were  made  for  rebuilding  the  public  edifices 
lately  burned  by  the  British ;  not,  however,  without  a  good 
deal  of  opposition.  Rhea  proposed  to  encircle  the  ruins  of 
the  Capitol  with  an  iron  balustrade,  to  let  the  ivy  grow  over 
them,  and  to  place  on  their  front,  in  letters  of  brass,  this 
inscription:  "Americans!  This  is  the  effect  of  British 
33 


386  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

barbarism  !  Let  us  swear  eternal  hatred  to  England !"  Many 
of  the  Southern  members  were  quite  electrified  by  this  burst 
of  patriotic  indignation ;  but  the  effect  passed  rapidly  away, 
as  it  occurred  to  them  that  Rhea  was  a  Pennsylvanian, 
anxious  to  have  the  seat  of  government  removed  to  Phila- 
delphia or  Lancaster. 

Jefferson  had  offered  a  library  of  some  seven  thousand 
volumes,  which  he  had  been  all  his  life  collecting,  to  supply 
the  place  of  that  burned  by  the  British  ;  but  the  appropria- 
tion for  this  purpose  did  not  pass  without  violent  opposition. 
It  was  proposed  to  pay  for  these  books  about  thirty  thousand 
dollars — more,  no  doubt,  than  they  would  have  sold  for, 
though  probably  not  much  more  than  they  had  cost.  But 
this  act  of  mutual  accommodation — for  Jefferson  needed  the 
money — was  violently  denounced  by  many  of  the  Federalists 
as  an  approach  to  a  system  of  pensions.  The  same  objection 
defeated  a  bill  to  pay  to  the  destitute  family  of  Vice  Presi- 
dent Gerry,  who  had  died  during  the  session,  his  salary  for 
the  remainder  of  the  year.  A  vast  deal  of  Federal  spleen 
was  vented  in  the  not  very  creditable  debates  on  these  two 
bills.  The  Democrats  fully  retorted  in  the  discussion  of  a 
bill,  which  also  failed  to  pass,  to  repay  to  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  their  advances  for  local  defense  during  the  war 
— advances  of  which  a  large  amount,  amid  millions  squan- 
dered on  more  favored  States,  remains  unpaid  to  this  day. 

The  President  recommended  a  peace  establishment  of 
20,000  men.  The  House  wished  to  reduce  it  to  6000 ;  the 
Senate  preferred  15,000;  10,000  was  finally  agreed  to  as  a 
compromise.  Two  major  generals,  four  brigadiers,  and  the 
necessary  number  of  staff,  regimental,  and  company  officers, 
were  to  be  selected  by  the  President  from  those  in  service. 
The  supernumerary  officers  and  men,  according  to  the  original 
terms  of  enlistment,  were  to  be  discharged  with  three  months' 
extra  pay.  An  additional  bounty  in  land  was  also  proposed, 
but  not  carried. 

The  flotilla  act  was  repealed,  and  the  remaining  gun-boats 
ordered  to  be  sold.  The  naval  establishment  was  left  as  it 
stood,  with  an  additional  appropriation  of  $200,000  annually, 
for  three  years,  for  its  gradual  increase.  A  bill  for  appointing 
the  swamp,  occupied  by  Carroll's  division.  The  ditch  in  front 
was  very  deep  and  broad;  and  the  storming  column,  exposed 


KE VOLUTION AEY   INCIDENTS.  387 

the  naval  administration,  -by  creating  a  board  of  three  naval 
officers,  to  exercise,  under  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the 
general  superintendence  of  that  department. 

The  three  national  ships  at  sea  when  peace  was  concluded 
did  not  return  without  additional  laurels.  Off  Lisbon,  the 
Constitution  engaged  in  a  moonlight  action  two  British  sloops 
of  war,  the  Cyane,  of  twenty-four  guns,  and  the  Levant,  of 
eighteen.  Keeping  the  wind,  and  taking  a  distance  favora- 
ble to  her  long  twenty-fours,  but  too  great  for  the  carronades, 
the  enemy's  principal  armament,  herself,  as  it  were,  in  the 
apex,  and  the  two  hostile  ships  at  the  opposite  angles  of  a 
nearly  equilateral  triangle,  the  Constitution  compelled  first 
the  Cyane  and  then  the  Levant  to  strike,  with  a  lose  to  her- 
self of  only  three  killed  and  twelve  wounded,  and  no  essential 
damage  to  the  vessel.  She  then  proceeded  with  her  prizes 
to  Porto  Praya,  in  the  Cape  de  Verd  Islands,  whence  she 
barely  escaped,  in  a  fog,  from  a  squadron  of  heavy  British 
vessels,  by  which  the  Levant  was  recaptured. 

The  rendezvous  appointed  for  the  Hornet  and  Peacock,  on 
getting  out  of  New  York,  was  Tristran  d'Acunha,  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Shortly  before  arriving  there,  the 
Hornet,  Captain  Biddle,  encountered  and  captured  the  brig- 
of-war  Penguin,  of  eighteen  guns,  just  about  her  match. 
The  Penguin  suffered  very  severely,  with  loss  of  foremast 
and  bowsprit,  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  destroy  her. 
The  Peacock  appeared  the  next  day,  when  both  vessels  pro- 
ceeded together  to  the  Indian  Ocean.  As  they  entered  that 
sea  they  were  chased  by  a  seventy-four,  from  which  the  Hor- 
net escaped  with  difficulty,  being  obliged  to  throw  overboard 
almost  everything  moveable,  and  returning  to  New  York 
without  boat,  anchor,  or  cable,  and  with  but  one  gun.  The 
Peacock,  Captain  Warrington,  kept  on  her  cruise,  and  in  the 
Straits  of  Sunda.  captured  the  Nautilus,  an  East  India 
cruiser,  of  fourteen  guns.  Though  told  that  peace  had  been 
made,  Warrington  insisted  that  the  Nautilus  should  strike  to 
him,  and  he  compelled  her  to  do  so  by  a  broadside,  which 
killed  six  men  and  wounded  eight  others.  But  the  next  day 
she  was  given  up,  and  so  ended  the  naval  hostilities. 

The  whole  number  of  British  vessels  captured  during  the 
war,  on  the  lakes  and  on  the  ocean,  as  well  by  privateers  (cf 
which  there  remained  some  forty  or  fifty  at  sea  when  peace 


388  HISTORICAL  AND 

was  consluded)  as  by  national  vessels,  omitting  those  recap- 
tured, was  reckoned  at  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty.  According 
to  an  official  British  return,  there  had  been  captured  or 
destroyed  by  ships  of  the  royal  navy,  forty-two  American 
national  vessels,  including  twenty-two  gun-boats,  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  privateers,  and  fourteen  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  merchant  vessels — sixteen  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  in  all,  manned  by  upward  of  eighteen  thousand  sea- 
men. The  captures  by  British  privateers  were  not  numerous. 

Owing  to  the  early  disasters  by  land,  the  balance  of  pris- 
oners had  been  all  along  against  the  Americans.  Horrid, 
indeed,  were  the  tales  brought  back,  equal  to  those  of  the 
Jersey  prison-ship,  from  Dartmoor  and  other  British  depots 
for  prisoners,  where  war  had  been  seen  stripped  of  all  its 
gilding,  and  felt  in  all  its  grim  horrors.  Much  feeling  was 
also  occasioned  by  an  unlucky  disturbance  which  occurred  at 
Dartmoor  after  the  peace  was  known,  the  guard  firing  on  the 
prisoners  and  killing  several. 

As  to  the  maritime  results  of  the  war,  the  British  remained 
very  sore.  A  party,  with  the  London  Times  at  its  head, 
bitterly  complained  that  any  peace  should  have  been  assented 
to  before  stripping  the  upstart  and  insolent  Yankees  of  their 
naval  laurels.  Madison,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibited  his 
anxiety  to  avoid  the  impressment  question  for  the  future  by 
recommending  the  passage  of  an  act  excluding  foreign  sea- 
men from  American  ships. 

The  Algerine  war  which  now  broke  out,  although  it  con- 
tributed to  the  making  of  a  naval  hero  of  Decatur,  being  of 
minor  importance,  in  comparison  with  the  great  events  which 
we  are  commemorating,  Hildreth  disposes  of  very  summarily. 

Just  as  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain  had  broken  out, 
the  Dey  of  Algiers,  taking  offense  at  not  having  received 
from  America  the  precise  articles  in  the  way  of  tribute, 
demanded,  had  unceremoniously  dismissed  Lear,  the  consul, 
had  declared  war,  and  had  since  captured  an  American  ves- 
sel, and  reduced  her  crew  to  slavery.  Immediately  after  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  with  England,  this  declaration  of 
war  had  been  reciprocated.  Efforts  had  been  at  once  made 
to  fit  out  ships,  new  and  old,  including  several  small  ones 
lately  purchased  for  the  proposed  squadrons  of  Porter  and 
Perry,  and  before  many  weeks  Decatur  sailed  from  New 


BEVOLUTIONAKY  INCIDENTS. 

York  with  the  Guerriere,  Macedonian,  and  Constellation 
frigates,  the  Ontario,  new  sloop-of-war,  four  brigs,  and  two 
schooners.  Two  days  after  passing  Gibraltar,  he  fell  in  with 
and  captured  an  Algerine  frigate  of  forty-four  guns,  the 
largest  ship  in  the  Algerine  navy,  which  struck  to  the  Guer- 
riere after  a  running  fight  of  twenty-five  minutes.  A  <hiy 
or  two  after,  an  Algerine  brig  was  chased  into  shoal  water 
on  the  Spanish  coast,  and  captured  by  the  smaller  vessels. 
Decatur  having  appeared  off  Algiers,  the  terrified  Dey  at 
once  consented  to  a  treaty,  which  he  submitted  to  sign  on 
Decatur's  quarter-deck,  surrendering  all  prisoners  on  hand, 
making  certain  pecuniary  indemnities,  renouncing  all  future 
claim  to  any  American  tribute  or  presents,  and  the  practice, 
also,  of  reducing  prisoners  of  war  to  slavery.  Decatur  then 
proceeded  to  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  and  obtained  fronirJaotli  in- 
demnity for  American  vessels  captured  under  the  guns  of 
their  forts  by  British  cruisers  during  the  late  war.  The  Bey 
of  Tripoli  being  short  of  cash,  Decatur  agreed  to  accept  in 
part  payment  the  restoration  to  liberty  of  eight  Danes  and 
two  Neapolitans,  held  as  slaves. 

Later  in  the  season,  Bainbridge  sailed  from  Boston  with 
the  Independence,  seventy-four,  the  Erie  sloop-of-war,  and 
two  smaller  vessels.  Being  joined  by  the  Congress  frigate, 
which  had  carried  Eustis  to  Holland,  and  by  Decatur's  squad- 
ron, and  finding  every  thing  settled,  he  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  display  his  force  in  the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean, 
where  the  eclat  of  the  American  naval  victories  over  the 
British  caused  him  to  be  received  with  marked  respect.  A 
little  incident  which  occurred  at  Malaga  deserves  notice,  as 
showing  how  natural  is  the  insolence  of  power,  and  how 
readily  our  navy  officers  could  fall  into  the  very  practices  of 
which  we  had  complained  so  loudly  in  the  British.  A  de- 
serter from  the  Independence,  being  seized  in  the  streets  of 
Malaga  by  one  of  her  officers,  was  discharged  by  the  civil 
authority  on  the  claim  which  he  set  up  of  being  a  Spanish 
citizen.  Bainbridge,  however,  still  demanded  him,  threaten- 
ing, if  he  were  not  given  up,  to  land  and  take  him  by  force, 
and,  if  resistance  were  made,  to  fire  upon  the  town — threats 
to  which  the  authorities  yielded. 

The  return  of  Bonaparte  to  France  excited  a  momentary 
alarm,  leot  the  unsettled  questions  of  impressment  and 
33* 


HISTORICAL  AND 

neutral  rights  might  again  come  up ;  but  his  speedy  downfall 
destroyed  these  apprehensions,  and  with  them  the  hopes, 
also,  of  a  new  harvest  to  be  reaped  by  neutral  commerce. 

The  posts  of  Prarie  du  Chien  and  Michilimackinac  having 
been  re-occupied,  steps  were  taken  for  the  complete  pacifica- 
tion of  all  the  northwestern  tribes.  At  a  council  held  at 
Detroit,  at  which  were  represented  the  Scnecas,  Delawares, 
Shawanese,  Wyandots,  Potawatomies  of  Lake  Michigan,  Ot- 
tawas,  and  Chippewas,  with  some  bands,  also,  of  the  Winne- 
bagoes  and  Sauks,  and  at  which  the  famous  Prophet,  the 
brother  of  Tecumseh,  was  present,  the  hatchet  was  formally 
buried  as  between  all  these  tribes  and  as  between  them  and 
the  United  States.  Other  treaties  soon  followed,  with  the 
Potawatomies  of  Illinois,  the  Piankeshaws,  Osages,  lowas, 
Kansas,  Foxes,  Kickapoos,  and  various  bands  of  the  great 
Sioux  confederacy,  with  several  of  which  formal  relations 
were  now  first  established. 


CHAPTER    XXY. 

Causes   of  the  War  —  Debates  in   Congress  —  Extracts  from   Mr.  Clay's 
Speeches  on  the  different  phases  of  the  War  Question. 

THE  causes  of  this  war  of  1812,  which  was  now  brought 
to  an  almost  immediate  conclusion,  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
and  which  have  been  much  debated,  are  best  illustrated  by 
the  speeches  of  Mr.  Clay,  its  great  champion,  as  well  as  the 
universal  champion  of  human  rights  and  freedom  every- 
where. Mr.  Clay,  in  his  urgency  for  this  war,  won  for  himself 
the  most  enduring  basis  of  that  singular  personal  popularity, 
which  has  since  marked  his  reputation,  as  the  noblest  of 
the  sons  of  "Sam"  since  his  first  representative,  Wash- 
ington. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  the  two  great  nations  of  western 
Europe,  Great  Britain  and  France,  while  at  war  with  each 
other,  should  have  presumed,  that  they  could  do  any  amount 
of  injury  to  the  rights  and  commercial  interests  of  the  United 
States  with  impunity.  The  British  blockade  of  1806  was 
followed  by  the  Berlin  edicts,  and  the  British  orders  in  council 
by  the  edicts  of  Milan,  and  these  belligerent  powers  made 
war  on  the  commerce  of  a  friend,  the  better  to  carry  on  war 
between  themselves.  The  United  States  were  made  the 
victim  of  their  rapacity.  From  February  28,  to  May  20, 
1811,  less  than  three  months,  twenty-seven  American  mer- 
chant-vessels were  sent  into  British  ports,  prizes  to  British 
cruisers,  for  violation  of  the  orders  in  council,  and  the  British 
admiralty  courts  were  constantly  occupied  in  adjudicating  on 
American  property,  thus  brought  under  their  jurisdiction, 
little  of  which  escaped  forfeiture  for  the  crime  of  a  neutral 
commerce,  and  for  attempting  to  enter  ports  which  had  no 

391 


392  HISTORICAL  AND 

other  blockade  than  parchment  orders.  At  the  same  time 
that  these  outrages  were  committed  on  American  commerce, 
swelling  up  to  millions  annually,  British  manufactures  were 
allowed  and  encouraged  to  enter,  in  neutral  bottoms,  the  very 
ports  from  which  American  vessels,  laden  with  American  pro- 
duce, were  excluded,  and  for  having  papers  of  that  destina- 
tion, were  captured ! 

But  Great  Britain,  having  command  of  the  seas,  asserted 
another  offensive  power,  in  relation  to  the  United  States,  to 
maintain  her  maritime  ascendancy,  by  seizing  American  sea- 
men, on  board  American  merchantmen,  and  forcing  them 
into  the  British  navy,  under  the  pretense  of  searching  for 
British  subjects,  and  claiming  their  services,  while  all  parties 
knew  the  wrong  that  was  done.  The  seizure  of  the  property 
of  a  neutral  power,  as  a  belligerent  right,  and  claiming  it  as 
forfeited,  though  sufficiently  atrocious,  was  a  much  less  exas- 
perating offense,  than  that  of  forcing  neutrals  to  fight  the 
battles  of  a  belligerent.  France  was  wreng  ;  Great  Britain 
was  more  so.  The  former  had  some  magnanimity,  when  it  was 
convenient  to  exercise  it;  while  the  latter  seemed  bent  on 
wrong  for  the  love  of  it.  It  is  true,  that  Great  Britain  pre- 
tended to  be  fighting  for  existence,  and  her  own  vindicators 
asserted  the  law  of  necessity:  but  that  was  neither  consola- 
tion, nor  relief,  to  those  whose  rights  she  violated. 

The  truth  undoubtedly  was,  that  the  United  States  had 
fallen  into  contempt,  and  the  time  had  arrived  when  it  was 
necessary  to  vindicate  their  rights.  The  mission  of  John 
Henry,  into  New  England,  in  1809,  acting  under  the  instruc- 
tions of  Sir  James  Craig,  governor  of  Canada,  with  designs 
against  the  Union,  as  proved  by  Mr.  Madison's  communications 
to  Congress,  March  9,  1812,  is  sufficient  evidence,  that  some- 
thing more  than  contempt  actuated  the  British  government 
in  the  repeated  and  aggravated  insults  and  injuries  done  to 
the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  for  a  series 
of  years,  naught  abated  by  time  and  remonstrance,  but  ever 
on  the  increase.  The  conclusion  seemed  to  have  been  adopted 
in  Europe,  that,  though  the  United  States  had  fought  once, 
and  gained  their  independence,  there  was  no  great  danger  of 
their  fighting  again,  though  insulted  and  wronged  ;  that  they 
might  be  injured  to  any  extent  with  impunity.  What  else 
could  account  for  the  treatment  received  from  France  and 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  393 

Great  Britain,  especially  the  latter?  Such  was  the  state  of 
things  which  led  to  the  war  of  1812. 

Congress  was  convoked  a  month  before  the  regular  time, 
in  the  fall  of  1811,  and  the  message  of  President  Madison 
was  decidedly  in  the  war  tone.  The  winter  was  spent  in 
notes  of  preparation,  and  by  the  20th  of  March,  Congress 
had  passed,  and  the  President  approved,  bills  of  the  following 
titles :  To  fill  up  the  ranks  and  prolong  the  enlistment  of 
the  army;  to  raise  an  additional  regular  force  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  men  ;  to  raise  six  companies  of  mounted  rangers 
for  the  defense  of  the  western  frontier ;  to  arm  the  militia ; 
to  authorize  detachments  of  militia  to  fortify  the  maritime 
frontier ;  to  repair  and  fit  the  entire  naval  force ;  to  procure 
carnp-equipage,  baggage- wagons,  etc.;  to  purchase  ordnance 
and  military  stores ;  to  obtain  supplies  of  sulphur  and  salt- 
peter ;  to  make  further  provisions  for  the  corps  of  engineers ; 
to  establish  a  quartermaster's  department,  and  create  'com- 
missary-generals ;  to  provide  for  the  support  of  the  army  and 
navy  ;  and  to  authorize  a  loan  of  eleven  millions. 

In  the  meantime,  there  had  been  a  vigorous  opposition  to 
these  measures ;  but  when,  on  the  1st  of  April,  Mr.  Madison 
sent  in  his  special  message,  with  the  documents  respecting 
Henry's  mission,  there  was  a  burst  of  indignant  feeling  from 
Congress,  and  from  the  whole  nation,  well  calculated  to  unite 
the  country  in  hostile  measures.  From  this  time  till  the 
declaration  of  war,  on  the  19th  of  June,  the  utmost  spirit  of 
preparation  was  manifested  in  the  legislative  and  executive 
branches  of  the  government,  to  begin  the  contest. 

The  well-known  moderation  of  President  Madison's  char- 
acter demanded  powerful  influences,  to  bring  him  up  to  the 
required  temper  for  the  responsibilities  of  this  new  position, 
as  the  head  of  the  government ;  and  there  was  probably  but 
one  man  who  was  capable,  by  his  extraordinary  power  over 
others,  of  imparting  to  him  the  spirit  that  was  needed  for 
the  time.  It  hardly  need  be  said,  that  HE  was  the  speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives — Mr.  Clay.  By  the  same 
cause,  Congress  was  ready  for  the  war  before  the  president 
was.  He  was  still  laboring  in  vain  at  the  oar  of  negotiation, 
with  Mr.  Foster,  the  British  minister,  when  an  informal 
deputation  from  the  other  branch  of  the  government  waited 
upon  him,  with  Mr.  Clay  at  their  head,  and  before  they 


394  HISTORICAL  AND 

retired  the  die  was  cast.     Nothing  remained  but  the  formal 
act  of  declaration. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  Mr.  Clay's  feelings  in  relation 
to  the  insults  and  wrongs  suffered  by  the  country  from  Great 
Britain,  had  been  for  several  years  maturing  for  that  course 
of  action  which  he  pursued  after  the  struggle  commenced, 
and  were  on  various  occasions,  and  in  sundry  forms,  publicly 
expressed — often  incidentally.  In  a  speech  in  the  Senate, 
December  25,  1810,  in  vindication  of  President  Madison's 
occupation  of  the  territory  in  dispute  between '  the  United 
States  and  Spain,  eastward  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  line 
of  the  Perdido,  he  said  — 

"  The  gentleman  [Mr.  Horsey,  of  Delaware]  reminds  us, 
that  Great  Britain,  the  ally  of  Spain,  may  be  obliged,  by  her 
connection  with  that  country,  to  take  part  with  her  against 
us,  and  to  consider  this  measure  of  the  president  as  justifying 
an  appeal  to  arms.  Sir,  is  the  time  never  to  arrive,  when 
we  may  manage  our  own  affairs,  without  the  fear  of  insult- 
ing his  Britannic  majesty?  Is  the  rod  of  British  power  to 
be  forever  suspended  over  our  heads  ? — Does  Congress  put  on 
an  embargo  to  shelter  our  rightful  commerce  against  the 
piratical  depredations  committed  upon  it  on  the  ocean  ?  We 
are  immediately  warned  of  the  indignation  of  offended  Eng- 
land. Is  a  law  of  non-intercourse  proposed  ?  The  whole 
navy  of  the  haughty  mistress  of  the  seas  is  made  to  thunder 
in  our  ears.  Does  the  president  refuse  to  continue  a  corres- 
pondence with  a  minister,  who  violates  the  decorum  belong- 
ing to  his  diplomatic  character  by  giving  and  delib3rately 
repeating  an  affront  to  the  whole  nation?  We  are  instantly 
menaced  with  the  chastisement  which  English  pride  will  not 
fail  to  inflict.  Whether  we  assert  our  rights  by  sea,  or 
attempt  their  maintenance  by  land — whithersoever  we  turn 
ourselves,  this  phantom  incessantly  pursues  us.  Already 
has  it  had  too  much  influence  on  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
It  contributed  to  the  repeal  of  the  embargo — that  dishonor- 
able repeal,  which  has  so  much  tarnished  -the  character  of  our 
government.  Mr.  President,  I  have  before  said  on  this  floor., 
and  now  take  occasion  to  remark,'  that  I  most  sincerely  desire 
peace  and  amity  with  England  ;  that  I  even  prefer, an  adjust- 
ment of  all  differences  with  her,  before  one  with  any  other 
nation.  But  if  she  persists  in  a  denial  of  justice  to  us,  or  if 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  395 

she  avails  herself  of  the  occupation  of  West  Florida,  to  com- 
mence war  upon  us,  I  trust  and  hope  that  all  hearts  will  unite, 
in  a  bold  and  vigorous  vindication  of  our  rights/7 

Mr.  Clay,  foreseeing  that  war  with  Great  Britain  was 
inevitable,  had  declined  going  into  the  Senate  again,  and  in 
1811  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  as  the 
more  important  branch  of  the  public  service  for  the  occasion. 
Having  made  up  his  mind,  that  war  was  the  only  course  to 
vindicate  the  national  honor  and  rights,  all  his  efforts  were 
directed  to  bring  about  the  final  measure,  from  which  there 
could  be  no  retreat,  till  those  rights  should  be  acknowledged 
and  respected.  Though  Speaker  of  the  House,  opportunities 
were  afforded  him,  in  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of 
the  Union,  to  express  his  sentiments;  and  it  was  in  this  field 
that  he  wielded  a  paramount  influence.  His  addresses  in 
the  secret  sessions,  while  the  question  of  war  was  pending, 
which,  as  represented,  were  most  animating  and  stirring,  are 
of  course  lost ;  and  but  a  few  of  those  delivered  in  public 
debate,  are  extant.  While  the  bill  to  raise  an  additional 
regular  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  was  pending, 
Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  House,  in  committee,  on  the  31st  of 
December,  1811.  The  following  are  extracts  from  this 
speech : 

"  Mr.  Clay  [the  Speaker]  said,  that  when  the  subject  of 
this  bill  was  before  the  House  in  the  abstract  form  of  a 
resolution,  proposed  by  the  committee  of  foreign  relations,  it 
was  the  pleasure  of  the  House  to  discuss  it  while  he  was  in 
the  chair.  He  did  not  complain  of  this  course  of  proceed- 
ing ;  for  he  did  not  at  any  time  wish  the  House,  from  con- 
siderations personal  to  him,  to  depart  from  that  mode  of 
transacting  the  public  business  which  they  thought  best. 
He  merely  adverted  to  the  circumstance,  as  an  apology  for 
the  trouble  he  was  about  to  give  the  committee.  He  was  at 
all  times  disposed  to  take  his  share  of  responsibility,  and 
under  this  impression,  he  felt  that  he  owed  it  to  his  constitu- 
ents and  to  himself,  before  the  committee  rose,  to  submit  to 
their  attention  a  few  observations.  ° 

"  The  difference  between  those  who  were  for  fifteen  thou- 
sand, and  those  who  were  for  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
appeared  to  him  to  resolve  itself  into  the  question,  merely, 
of  a  short  or  protracted  war ;  a  war  of  vigor,  or  a  war  of 


396  HISTORICAL  AND 

languor  and  imbecility.  If  a  competent  force  be  raised  in 
the  first  instance,  the  war  on  the  continent  will  be  speedily 
terminated.  He  was  aware  that  it  might  still  rage  on  the 
ocean.  But  where  the  nation  could  act  with  unquestionable 
success,  he  was  in  favor  of  the  display  of  an  energy  cor- 
respondent to  the  feelings  and  spirit  of  the  country.  Sup- 
pose one-third  of  the  force  he  had  mentioned  (twenty-five 
thousand  men)  could  reduce  the  country,  say  in  three  years, 
and  that  the  whole  could  accomplish  the  same  object  in  one 
year ;  taking  into  view  the  greater  hazard  of  the  repulsion 
and  defeat  of  the  small  force,  and  every  other  consideration, 
do  not  wisdom  and  true  economy  equally  decide  in  favor  of 
the  larger  force,  and  thus  prevent  failure  in  consequence  of 
inadequate  means  ?  He  begged  gentlemen  to  recollect  the 
immense  extent  of  the  United  States :  our  vast  maritime 
frontier,  vulnerable  in  almost  all  its  parts  to  predatory 
incursions,  and  he  was  persuaded,  they  would  see  that  a 
regular  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  was  not  much  too 
great  during  a  period  of  war,  if  all  designs  of  invading  the 
provinces  of  the  enemy  were  abandoned.  ° 

"  The  object  of  the  force,  he  understood  distinctly  to  be 
war,  and  war  with  Great  Britain.  It  had  been  supposed  by 
some  gentlemen,  improper  to  discuss  publicly  so  delicate  a 
question.  He  did  not  feel  the  impropriety.  It  was  a  sub- 
ject in  its  nature  incapable  of  concealment.  Even  in  coun- 
tries where  the  powers  of  government  were  conducted  by  a 
single  ruler,  it  was  almost  impossible  for  that  ruler  to  con- 
ceal his  intentions  when  he  meditates  war.  The  assembling 
of  armies,  the  strengthening  of  posts — all  the  movements 
preparatory  to  war,  and  which  it  is  impossible  to  disguise, 
unfolded  the  intentions  of  the  sovereign.  Does  Russia  or 
France  intend  war :  the  intention  is  almost  invariably  known 
before  the  war  is  commenced.  If  Congress  were  to  pass  a 
law,  with  closed  doors,  for  raising  an  army  for  the  purpose 
of  war,  its  enlistment  and  organization,  which  could  not  be 
done  in  secret,  would  indicate  the  use  to  which  it  was  to  be 
applied ;  and  we  could  not  suppose  England  would  be  so 
blind,  as  not  to  see  that  she  was  aimed  at.  Nor  could  she, 
did  she  apprehend,  injure  us  more  by  thus  knowing  our  pur- 
poses, than  if  she  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  them.  She 
may,  indeed,  anticipate  us,  and  commence  the  war.  But 


BEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  397 

that  is  what  she  is  in  fact  doing,  and  she  can  add  hut  little 
to  the  injury  which  she  is  inflicting.  If  she  chooso  to  declare 
war  in  form,  let  her  do  so — the  responsibility  will  be  with 
her." 

The  purpose  of  this  measure  having  been  avowed,  all  the 
questions  of  expediency  in  the  nation's  taking  so  momentous 
a  step,  of  course  came  up  for  consideration,  and  were 
required  to  be  solved — of  which  that  of  the  public  finances 
was  not  among  the  least.  Was  the  nation  prepared  for  the 
cost?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
country,  and  as  a  consequence  the  public  revenue,  were  almost 
entirely  ruined  by  the  belligerents.  The  revenue  had  fallen 
from  sixteen  millions  to  six,  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  be 
worse.  The  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  country  by  the  operation 
of  the  British  orders  in  council  and  the  French  decrees,  were 
not  only  disastrous  to  the  public  revenue,  but  equally  so  to 
the  interests  of  private  individuals,  by  the  seizure,  adjudica- 
tion, and  forfeiture  of  their  property  afloat  on  the  high  seas, 
under  plea  of  a  violation  of  those  orders  and  decrees.  The 
business  of  the  country,  and  the  wheels  of  the  government, 
were  both  in  a  fair  way  of  being  stopped.  Things,  indeed, 
had  come  to  such  a  pass,  by  the  operation  of  these  causes,  that 
apart  from  peril  of  life,  and  injury  to  public  morals,  and  as  a 
simple  question  of  finance,  it  was  scarcely  possible  that  war 
should  not  make  business,  and  pay  for  itself,  so  far  as  it 
respected  the  nation  at  large,  though  it  should  run  the  gov- 
ernment in  debt.  In  such  a  state  of  things  it  could  not  be 
worse. 

There  was  national  character,  too ;  honor,  a  nation's  best 
treasure,  trampled  under  foot,  and  kicked  about  Europe  as  a 
despicable  thing.  There  were  thousands  of  American  sailors, 
forced  into  the  British  navy,  and  compelled  to  fight  the  bat- 
tles of  the  British  sovereign,  without  remedy,  without  hope. 
To  the  ruin  of  American  commerce  were  added  indignity  to 
tie  nation,  by  disregarding  its  remonstrances,  and  the  viola- 
tion of  the  personal  rights  of  American  citizens,  by  depriving 
them  of  freedom,  and  forcing  them  into  a  service  where  they 
owed  no  allegiance,  to  the  peril  of  their  lives,  and  the 
destruction  of  their  fortunes — holding  them  in  captivity  from 
country,  home,  and  friends.  And  when  the  French  decrees 
were  revoked,  as  respected  American  commerce,  the  British 
34 


398  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

government  held  the  American  government  responsible  for 
their  revocation  as  respected  all  other  nations,  before  they 
would  repeal  the  orders  in  council !  In  view  of  this  state  of 
things,  Mr.  Clay  said : 

"England  is  said  to  be  fighting  for  the  world,  and  shall 
we,  it  is  asked,  attempt  to  weaken  her  exertions  ?  If,  indeed, 
the  aim  of  the  French  emperor  be  universal  dominion  (and 
he  was  willing  to  allow  it  to  the  argument),  how  much  nobler 
a  cause  is  presented  to  British  valor !  But  how  is  her  philan- 
thropic purpose  to  be  achieved  ?  By  a  scrupulous  observance 
of  the  rights  of  others  ;  by  respecting  that  code  of  public  law 
which  she  professes  to  vindicate  ;  and  by  abstaining  from  self- 
aggrandizement.  Then  would  she  command  the  sympathies 
of  the  world.  What  are  we  required  to  do  by  those  who 
would  engage  our  feelings  and  wishes  in  her  behalf?  To 
bear  the  actual  cuffs  of  her  arrogance,  that  we  may  escape  a 
chimerical  French  subjugation !  We  are  invited,  conjured,  to 
to  drink  the  potion  of  British  poison,  actually  presented  to 
our  lips,  that  we  may  avoid  the  imperial  dose  prepared  by 
perturbed  imaginations.  We  are  called  upon  to  submit  to 
debasement,  dishonor,  and  disgraee ;  to  bow  the  neck  to  royal 
insolence,  as  a  course  of  preparation  for  manly  resistance  to 
Gallic  invasion  !  What  nation*  what  individual,  was  ever 
taught,  in  the  schools  of  ignominious  submission,  these  patri- 
otic lessons  of  freedom  and  independence?  Let  those  who 
contend  for  this  humiliating  doctrine,  read  its  refutation  in 
the  history  of  the  very  man  agains't  whose  insatiable  thirst 
of  dominion  we  are  warned.  The  experience  of  desolated 
Spain,  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  is  worth  volumes.  Did  she 
find  her  repose  and  safety  in  subserviency  to  the  will  of  that 
man  ?  Had  she  boldly  stood  forth  and  repelled  the  first 
attempt  to  dictate  to  her  councils,  her  monarch  would  not  be 
now  a  miserable  captive  in  Marseilles.  Let  us  come  home 
to  our  own  history  :  it  was  not  by  submission  that  our  fathers 
achieved  our  independence.  The  patriotic  wisdom  that  placed 
you,  Mr.  Chairman,  under  that  canopy,  penetrated  the  designs 
of  a  corrupt  ministry,  and  nobly  fronted  encroachment  on  its 
first  appearance.  It  saw,  beyond  the  petty  taxes  with  which 
it  commenced,  a  long  train  of  oppressive  measures,  termin- 
ating in  the  total  annihilation  of  liberty,  and,  contemptible 
as  they  were,  it  did  not  hesitate  to  resist  them.  Take  the 


KEVOLUTIOXAKY  INCIDENTS.  399 

experience  of  the  last  four  or  five  years,  which  he  was  sorry 
to  say  exhibited,  in  appearance  at  least,  a  different  kind  of 
spirit.  He  did  not  wish  to  view  the  past,  further  than  to 
guide  us  for  the  future.  We  were  hut  yesterday  contending 
for  the  indirect  trade — the  right  to  export  to  Europe  the 
coffee  and  sugar  of  the  West  Indies.  To-day  we  are  assert- 
ing our  claim  to  the  direct  trade — the  right  to  export  our 
cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  domestic  produce,  to  market.  Yield 
this  point,  and  to-morrow  intercourse  between  New  York  and 
New  Orleans,  between  the  planters  on  James  river  and  Rich- 
mond, will  be  interdicted.  For,  sir,  the  career  of  encroach- 
ment is  never  arrested  by  submission.  It  will  advance  while 
there  remains  a  single  privilege  on  which  it  can  operate. 
Gentlemen  say  that  this  government  is  unfit  for  any  war, 
but  a  war  of  invasion.  What,  is  it  not  equivalent  to  invasion, 
if  the  mouths  of  our  harbors  and  outlets  are  blocked  up,  and 
we  are  denied  egress  from  our  own  waters?  Or,  when  the 
burglar  is  at  our  door,  shall  we  bravely  sally  forth  and  repel 
his  felonious  entrance,  or  meanly  skulk  within  the  cells  of 
the  castle  ?  *  » 

"  He  [Mr.  Clay]  was  one,  who  was  prepared  (and  he  would 
not  believe  that  he  was  more  so  than  any  other  member  of 
the  committee)  to  march  on  in  the  road  of  his  duty,  at  all 
hazards.  What !  shall  it  be  said,  that  our  amor  patrice  is 
located  at  these  desks  ;  that  we  pusillanimously  cling  to  our 
seats  here,  rather  than  boldly  vindicate  the  most  inestimable 
rights  of  the  country?  While  the  heroic  Daviess,  and  his 
gallant  associates,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  treacherous, 
savage  warfare,  are  sacrificing  themselves  for  the  good  of 
their  country,  shall  we  shrink  from  our  duty  ?" 

When  the  army-bill  was  disposed  of,  a  navy-bill  came  up, 
which,  among  other  objects,  proposed  to  build  a  blank  number 
of  frigates.  The  most  important  question  was  the  filling  up 
of  this  blank.  Mr.  Cheves,  of  South  Carolina,  moved  for  the 
number  of  TEN.  Mr.  Rhea,  of  Tennessee,  moved  to  strike 
out  this  section,  which  was  negatived  by  a  vote  of  52  to  47 — 
a  test  vote.  It  was  during  the  pendency  of  Mr.  Rhea's 
motion,  that  Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  committee  against  it, 
and  in  favor  of  the  proposal  of  Mr.  Cheves.  Mr.  Clay  said : 

"  The  attention  of  Congress  has  been  invited  to  this 
subject  by  the  president,  in  his  message,  delivered  at  the 


400  HlSTOEICAL  AND 

opening  of  the  session.  Indeed,  had  it  "been  wholly  neglected 
by  the  chief  magistrate,  from  the  critical  situation  of  the 
country,  and  the  nature  of  the  rights  proposed  to  be  vindi- 
cated, it  must  have  pressed  itself  upon  our  attention.  But, 
said  Mr.  Clay,  the  president,  in  his  message,  observes  :  *  Your 
attention  will,  of  course,  be  drawn  to  such  provisions  on  the 
subject  of  our  naval  force,  as  may  be  required  for  the  service 
to  which  it  is  best  adapted.  I  submit  to  Congress  the  rea- 
sonableness, also,  of  an  authority  to  augment  the  stock  of 
such  materials  a.s  are  imperishable  in  their  nature,  or  may 
not,  at  once,  be  attainable?7  The  president,  by  this  recom- 
mendation, clearly  intimates  an  opinion,  that  the  naval  force 
of  this  country  is  capable  of  producing  effect ;  and  the  pro- 
priety of  laying  up  imperishable  materials  was  no  doubt 
suggested  for  the  purpose  of  making  additions  to  the  navy, 
as  convenience  and  exigencies  might  direct. 

"  It  appeared  to  Mr.  Clay  a  little  extraordinary,  that  so 
much,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  unreasonable  jealousy,  should 
'exist  against  the  naval  establishment.  If,  said  he,  we  look 
back  to  the  period  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  it  will 
be  found  that  no  such  jealousy  was  then  excited.  In  placing 
the  physical  force  of  the  nation  at  the  disposal  of  Congress, 
the  convention  manifested  much  greater  apprehension  of 
abuse  in  the  power  given  to  raise  armies,  than  in  that  to 
provide  a  navy.  In  reference  to  the  navy,  Congress  is  put 
under  no  restrictions;  but  with  respect  to  the  army,  that 
description  of  force  which  has  been  so  often  employed  to  sub- 
vert the  liberties  of  mankind,  they  are  subjected  to  limita- 
tions designed  to  prevent  the  abuse  of  this  dangerous  power. 
But  it  was  not  his  intention  to  detain  the  committee  by  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  comparative  utility  and  safety  of  these  two 
kinds  of  force.  He  would,  however,  be  indulged  in  saying, 
that  he  thought  gentlemen  had  wholly  failed  in  maintaining 
the  position  they  had  assumed,  that  the  fall  of  maritime 
powers  was  attributable  to  their  navies.  They  have  told  you, 
indeed,  that  Carthage,  Genoa,  Venice,  and  other  nations,  had 
navies,  and,  notwithstanding,  were  finally  destroyed.  But 
have  they  shown,  by  a  train  of  argument,  that  their  overthrow 
was  in  any  degree  attributable  to  their  maritime  greatness? 
Have  they  attempted,  even,  to  show  that  there  exists  in  the 
nature  of  this  power  a  necessary  tendency  to  destroy  the 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  401 

nation  using  it  ?  Assertion  is  substituted  for  argument ; 
inferences  not  authorized  by  historical  facts  are  arbitrarily 
drawn ;  things  wholly  unconnected  with  each  other  are  asso- 
ciated together ;  a  very  logical  mode  of  reasoning,  it  must 
be  admitted !  In  the  same  way  he  could  demonstrate  how 
idle  and  absurd  our  attachments  are  to  freedom  itself.  He 
might  say,  for  example,  that  Greece  and  Borne  had  forms 
of  free  government,  and  that  they  no  longer  exist ;  and, 
deducing  their  fall  from  their  devotion  to  liberty,  the  conclu- 
sion, in  favor  of  despotism,  would  very  satisfactorily  follow ! 
He  demanded  what  there  is  in  the  nature  and  construction 
of  maritime  power,  to  excite  the  fears  that  have  been 
indulged?  Do  gentlemen  really  apprehend,  that  a  body  of 
seamen  will  abandon  their  proper  element,  and  placing  them- 
selves under  an  aspiring  chief,  will  erect  a  throne  to  his 
ambition  ?  Will  they  deign  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  history, 
and  learn  how  chimerical  are  their  apprehensions  ? 

"  But  the  source  of  alarm  is  in  ourselves.  Gentlemen  fear, 
that  if  we  provide  a  marine,  it  will  produce  collisions  with 
foreign  nations,  plunge  us  into  war,  aud  ultimately  overturn 
the  constitution  of  the  country.  Sir,  if  you  wish  to  avoid 
foreign  collision,  you  had  better  abandon  the  ocean  surrender 
all  your  commerce;  give  up  all  your  prosperity.  It  is  the 
thing  protected,  not  the  instrument  of  protection,  that  involves 
you  in  war.  Commerce  engenders  collision,  collision  war,  and 
war,  the  argument  supposes,  leads  to  despotism.  Would  the 
counsels  of  that  statesman  be  deemed  wise,  who  would  rec- 
ommend that  the  nation  should  be  unarmed;  that  the  art  of 
war,  the  martial  spirit,  and  martial  exercises,  should  be  pro- 
hibited ;  who  should  declare,  in  the  language  of  Othello,  that 
the  nation  must  bid  farewell  to  the  neighing  steed,  and  the 
shrill  trump,  the  spirit-stirring  drum,  the  ear-piercing  fife, 
and  all  the  pride,  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war ; 
and  that  the  great  body  of  the  people  should  be  taught,  that 
national  happiness  was  to  be  found  in  perpetual  peace  alone  V 
No,  sir.  And  yet,  every  argument  in  favor  of  a  power  of 
protection  on  land,  applies  in  some  degree  to  a  power  of 
protection  on  the  sea.  Undoubtedly,  a  commerce  void  of 
naval  protection  is  more  exposed  to  rapacity  than  a  guarded 
commerce  ;  and  if  we  wish  to  invite  the  continuance  of  the 
old,  or  the  enactment  of  new  edicts,  let  us  refrain  from  all 
34* 


402  HISTORICAL  AND 

exertion  upon  that  element  where  we  must  operate,  and 
where,  in  the  end,  they  must  be  resisted.77 

It  can  not  but  be  seen  that  this  debate  is  greatly  instruct- 
ive, not  alone  as  it  shows  the  position  occupied  by  Mr.  Clay, 
but  as  it  discloses  the  position  of  the  country,  at  the  time, 
the  views  of  public  policy  entertained  by  existing  parties, 
the  untried  condition  and  ability  of  the  naval  force,  the  want 
of  faith  in  that  arm  of  the  public  service,  and  the  difficulties 
which  were  to  be  encountered  in  raising  it  frcm  infancy  to 
manhood,  and  sending  it  out  boldly  to  assert  the  rights  and 
exemplify  the  valor  of  the  nation  on  the  deep. 

It  is  clear  enough,  that  Mr.  Clay,  though  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Kepresentatives,  and  sufficiently  tasked  in  that  capac- 
ity, was  also  a  leader  in  debates,  and  leader  of  the  party  dis- 
posed to  stir  up  the  nation  to  a  trial  of  strength  with  at  least 
one  of  the  great  transatlantic  belligerents,  both  of  which  had 
done  such  wrongs,  and  offered  such  insults,  to  the  people  and 
government  of  the  United  States.  The  House  was  accustomed 
to  go  into  committee — thus  relieving  Mr.  Clay  from  the  duties 
of  speaker — for  the  purpose  of  giving  him  opportunities  to 
express  his  views  on  any  pending  measures,  and  of  availing 
itself  of  the  benefit  of  his  counsels,  and  of  his  stirring  elo- 
quence. Fresh  from  the  bosom  of  the  patriotic  and  gallant 
people  of  the  west,  himself  not  behind  in  these  lofty  senti- 
ments, animated  by  the  ardor  and  nerved  with  the  vigor  of 
a  young  statesman,  endowed  with  such  facilities  of  persuasion 
as  few  men  ever  possessed,  sensitive,  not  less  to  public  than 
to  private  honor,  thoroughly  informed  in  the  foreign  relations 
of  the  government  and  the  capabilities  of  the  United  States, 
Mr.  Clay  viewed  with  mortification  the  position  of  the  country, 
and  looked  with  scorn  and  indignation  at  the  wrongs  and  in- 
sults of  Great  Britain  and  France,  which  had  placed  it  there 
Unused  to  arms  since  the  national  independence  was  acquired, 
and  that  great  battle  having  been  fought  for  freedom — for 
the  "  lives,  fortunes,  and  sacred  honor  "  of  the  people — it  was 
a  great  problem  what  might  be  the  result  of  a  conflict  waged 
on  such  grounds  as  were  at  this  time  presented,  and  a  great  re- 
sponsibility in  pushing  the  nation  into  it.  But  the  alterna- 
tives were  only  two :  commercial  ruin  and  national  debasement 
on  the  one  hand,  or  bearding  the  British  lion  in  his  den,  on 
the  other.  A  young  nation  born  into  existence  by  agony  from 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  403 

which  there  was  no  escape,  was  now  to  measure  weapons  with 
the  oldest  and  most  powerful  empire  on  earth,  in  defence  of 
its  honor.  The  responsibility  of  a  leader  in  such  an  enter- 
prise was  great. 

Having  just  come  out  of  the  debate  on  a  measure  for 
raising  a  suitable  land  force,  about  which  all  reasonings 
could  be  based  on  some  tangible  probabilities,  the  navy  was 
a  subject  which  could  not  but  be  regarded  with  extreme  con- 
cern, in  a  war  with  "  the  mistress  of  the  seas."  And  yet  it 
was  a  subject  that  must  be  approached,  in  a  preparation  for 
such  a  war  ;  and  it  presented  a  question  that  must  be  dis 
posed  of.  Should  the  sea  be  abandoned  to  the  foe,  and  its 
road  to  national  wealth  and  greatness  be  surrendered  to  the 
sole  travel  of  an  arrogant  highwayman  ?  Or  should  a  young 
nation,  reduced  by  a  visionary  policy  to  gun-boat  tactics  and 
garrison  defenses,  like  a  chicken  on  a  dunghill  defying  the 
hawk  that  is  sailing  downward  on  his  prey,  go  out  in  such  a 
field  against  such  odds  ?  It  is  no  wonder  that  discourage- 
ment, and  a  feeling  like  dismay,  should  have  pervaded  so 
many  minds  at  the  prospect.  To  begin  to  build  a  navy,  at 
the  moment  of  going  into  war  with  the  greatest  maritime 
power  in  the  world,  was  indeed  a  bold  proposal — apparently 
bordering  on  presumption.  But  it  was  a  necessity,  before 
the  face  of  which  patriotism  could  not  flee — a  doom  which 
national  gallantry  was  forced  to  encounter. 

We  come  now  to  the  discussions  in  regard  to  building  the 
navy,  with  the  view  of  chastising  the  insolence  of  John  Bull 
upon  the  seas,  to  the  sole  dominion  and  undivided  rights 
upon  which  he  had  chosen  to  assert  his  domineering  sov- 
reignty. 

The  following  remarks  of  Mr.  Clay,  on  the  importance  of 
foreign  commerce  to  the  people  and  government  of  the  coun- 
try, and  on  the  intimate  connection  between  a  commercial 
and  military  marine,  are  not  more  forcibly  stated  than  true : 

"He  considered  the  prosperity  of  foreign  commerce  indis- 
solubly  allied  to  the  marine  power.  Neglect  to  provide  the 
one,  and  you  must  abandon  the  other.  Suppose  the  expected 
war  with  England  is  commenced,  you  enter  and  subjugate 
Canada,  and  she  still  refuses  to  do  you  justice;  what  other 
possible  mode  will  remain  to  operate  on  the  enemy,  but  upon 
that  element  where  alone  you  can  then  come  in  contact  with 


404  HISTORICAL  AND 

him?  And  if  you  do  not  prepare  to  protect  there  your  own 
commerce,  and  to  assail  his,  will  he  not  sweep  from  the  wean 
every  vessel  bearing  your  flag,  and  destroy  even  the  coast- 
ing trade?  But,  from  the  arguments  of  gentlemen,  it 
would  seem  to  be  questioned,  if  foreign  commerce  is  worth 
the  kind  of  protection  insisted  upon.  What  is  this  foreign 
commerce,  that  has  suddenly  become  so  inconsiderable  ?  It 
has,  with  very  trifling  aid  from  other  sources,  defrayed  the 
expenses  of  government,  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  pre- 
sent constitution  ;  maintained  an  expensive  and  successful 
war  with  the  Indians ;  a  war  with  the  Barbary  powers ;  a 
quasi  war  with  France ;  sustained  the  charges  of  suppress- 
ing two  insurrections,  and  extinguishing  upward  of  forty-six 
millions  of  the  public  debt.  In  revenue,  it  has,  since  the 
year  1789,  yielded  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  millions  of 
dollars.  During  the  first  four  years  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  government,  the  revenue  averaged  only 
about  two  millions  annually ;  during  a  subsequent  period  of 
four  years,  it  rose  to  an  average  of  fifteen  millions,  annu- 
ally, or  became  equivalent  to  a  capital  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars,  at  an  interest  of  six  per  centum  per 
annum.  And  if  our  commerce  be  re-established,  it  will,  in 
the  course  of  time,  net  a  sum  for  which  we  are  scarcely  fur- 
nished with  figures,  in  arithmetic.  Taking  the  average  of 
the  last  nine  years  (comprehending,  of  course,  the  season  of 
the  embargo),  our  exports  average  upward  of  thirty-seven 
millions  of  dollars,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  capital  of  more 
than  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  at  six  per  centum  in- 
terest ;  all  of  which  must  be  lost  in  the  event  of  a  destruc- 
tion of  foreign  commerce.  In  the  abandonment  of  that 
commerce,  is  also  involved  the  sacrifice  of  our  brave  tars, 
who  have  engaged  in  the  pursuit,  from  which  they  derive 
subsistence  and  support,  under  the  confidence  that  govern- 
ment would  afford  them  that  just  protection  which  is  due  to 
all.  They  will  be  driven  into  foreign  employment,  for  it  is 
vain  to  expect  that  they  will  renounce  their  habits  of  life. 

"  The  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise,  so  strongly  depicted 
by  the  gentleman  from  New  York  [Mr.  Mitchell],  is  diffused 
throughout  the  country.  It  is  a  passion,  as  unconquerable  as 
any  with  which  nature  has  endowed  us.  You  may  attempt, 
indeed,  to  regulate,  but  you  can  not  destroy  it.  It  exhibits 


KEVOLUTIONABY  INCIDENTS.  405 

itself  as  well  on  the  waters  of  the  western  country,  as  on 
the  waters  and  shores  of  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Clay  had  heard 
of  a  vessel,  "built  at  Pittsburg,  having  crossed  the  Atlantic 
and  entered  a  European  port  (he  believed  that  of  Leghorn). 
The  master  of  the  vessel  laid  his  papers  before  the  proper 
customhouse  officer,  which,  of  course,  stated  the  place  of  her 
departure.  The  officer  boldly  denied  the  existence  of  any 
such  American  port  as  Pittsburg,  and  threatened  a  seizure 
of  the  vessel,  as  being  furnished  with  forged  papers.  The 
affrighted  master  procured  a  map  of  the  United  States,  and 
pointing  out  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  took  the  officer  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  traced  the  course  of  the  Missis- 
sippi more  than  a  thousand  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
and  conducting  him  still  a  thousand  miles  higher,  to  the 
junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  the  Monongahela — *  There/ 
he  exclaimed,  'stands  Pittsburg,  the  port  from  which  I 
sailed !"; 

The  efforts  of  Mr.  Clay  in  Congress,  and  in  all  his  private 
relations,  during  this  season  of  preparation  for  war,  were 
unremitting,  desiring  to  go  into  it  with  unanimity  and  vigor, 
that  it  might  end  with  honor  and  the  achievement  of  the 
objects  of  the  conflict. 

When  war  was  declared,  the  manifest  importance  of 
having  at  the  head  of  the  army  a  man  of  talents,  decision, 
energy,  and  weight  of  character,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Clay 
had  been  trained  exclusively  in  the  civil  service,  suggested 
to  the  mind  of  President  Madison,  that  he  was  THE  MAN,  and 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  send  in  his  name  to  the  Senate 
for  the  office  of  major-general.  Mr.  Gallatin — though  he 
and  Mr.  Clay  have  never  been  on  the  best  of  terms — is 
understood  to  have  said,  that  he  knew  of  no  man  so  prompt 
and  fruitful  in  expedients  for  an  exigency,  as  Mr.  Clay — a 
qualification,  of  all  others,  the  most  important  for  a  military 
captain.  This  is  the  universal  opinion  of  his  character,  and 
it  has  been  sufficiently  proved.  Mr.  Madison,  doubtless,  had 
made  this  discovery,  and  it  is  an  interesting  subject  of  hypo- 
thetical review,  what  would  probably  have  been  the  result, 
if  Mr.  Clay  had  been  put  in  this  important  position.  None 
who  know  the  man  can  doubt,  that  the  utmost  activity  and 
energy  would  have  been  displayed  in  the  military  operations 
of  the  country,  and  that  the  war  might  have  been  brought 


406  HlSTOKICAL  AND 

to  a  close  in  half  the  time  and  at  half  the  expense.  What 
other  consequences  might  have  followed  in  Mr.  Clay's  civil 
history,  after  having  worn  an  epaulet  and  sword,  with  credit 
to  himself  and  benefit  to  his  country,  is  matter  of  innocent 
conjecture.  Mr.  Madison,  however,  was  dissuaded  from  his 
purpose,  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Clay's  services  were  indis- 
pensable in  the  national  councils.  The  president  tendered 
to  him  the  mission  to  Russia,  for  important  public  purposes, 
after  the  war,  and  afterward  one  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments, both  of  which  were  declined — doubtless  for  the  rea- 
sons which  had  induced  him  to  decline  the  more  elevated  and 
dignified  position  of  a  senator,  for  the  more  useful  one  of  a 
commoner.  Mr.  Monroe  afterward  offered  Mr.  Clay  a  secre- 
taryship at  home,  and  a  carte  blanche  of  all  the  foreign  mis- 
sions ;  but  he  preferred  the  House  of  Representatives. 

It  is  well  known,  that  the  first  year  of  the  war  was  not 
very  creditable  to  the  American  arms,  and  that  it  was  dis- 
heartening to  the  spirit  of  the  country.  The  opposition,  in 
Congress,  heaped  upon  the  administration  reproachful  censure 
for  having  engaged  in  the  war,  which  roused  Mr.  Clay,  not 
only  to  its  vindication,  but  to  some  vehement  expressions  of 
patriotic  indignation.  In  January,  1813,  a  bill  was  before 
Congress,  to  increase  the  army  by  twenty  additional  regi- 
ments. On  the  8th  of  this  month,  in  committee  of  the 
whole,  Mr.  Clay  noticed  these  attacks  on  the  government, 
and  replied  to  some  invectives  on  the  merits  of  the  war. 

In  recording  the  services  of  a  statesman,  in  peace  or  war, 
he  is  to  be  represented  in  the  field  which  he  occupies,  or  in 
which  he  enacts  his  part.  The  roar  of  artillery  and  the 
clash  of  steel  are  not  in  the  senate  of  a  nation  ;  but  there 
are  battles  even  there.  The  statesman  who  sways  the  coun- 
cils of  his  country,  by  his  wisdom  and  eloquence,  occupies  a 
position  more  lofty  and  more  commanding,  than  any  other 
public  agent.  Armies  are  raised  and  moved,  and  fleets  scour 
the  seas,  for  pacific  functions,  or  in  search  of  the  foe,  under 
his  orders.  He  is  forced  to  look  on  all  at  home,  and  ah 
abroad — to  secure,  protect,  and  vindicate  domestic  interests 
and  rights,  against  foreign  policies  and  foreign  aggressions. 
His  tent  is  the  canopy  of  heaven,  and  his  field  the  world. 
He  fights  in  war,  and  fights  in  peace.  There  is  no  repose 
for  him  who  guards  with  vigilance  and  fidelity  the  public  weal. 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  407 

The  position  which  Mr.  Clay  occupied  in  the  war  of  1812, 
was  eminent.  That  he  had  been  eminently  influential  in  its 
inception,  and  in  committing  the  nation  to  the  hazard,  could 
not  be  unknown;  and  in  view  of  the  adverse  events  of  its 
early  history,  the  opponents  of  the  war  and  of  the  adminis- 
tration, fell  heavily  upon  him  who  had  been  so  active  in 
bringing  it  about.  He  thus  replies  : 

"  Sir,  gentlemen  appear  to  me  to  forget,  that  they  stand 
on  American  soil ;  that  they  are  not  in  the  British  House  of 
Commons,  but  in  the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  ;  that  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  the  partition  of  territory  and  sove- 
reignty there,  except  so  far  as  these  things  affect  the  inter- 
ests of  our  own  country.  Gentlemen  transform  themselves 
into  the  Burkes,  Chathams,  and  Pitts  of  another  country, 
and  forgetting,  from  honest  zeal,  the  interests  of  America, 
engage  with  European  sensibility  in  the  discussion  of 
European  interests.  If  gentlemen  ask  me,  whether  I  do 
not  view  with  regret  and  horror  the  concentration  of  such 
vast  power  in  the  hands  of  Bonaparte,  I  reply,  that  I  do.  I 
regret  to  see  the  emperor  of  China  holding  such  immense 
sway  over  the  fortunes  of  millions  of  our  species.  I  regret 
to  see  Great  Britain  possessing  so  uncontrolled  a  command 
over  all  the  waters  of  our  globe.  If  I  had  the  ability  to 
distribute  among  the  nations  of  Europe  their  several  portions 
of  power  and  sovereignty,  I  would  say  that  Holland  should 
be  resuscitated,  and  given  the  weight  she  enjoyed  in  the  days 
of  her  De  Witts.  I  would  confine  France  within  her  natural 
boundaries,  the  Alps,  Pyrenees,  and  the  Ehine,  and  make 
her  a  secondary  naval  power  only.  I  would  abridge  the 
British  maritime  power,  raise  Prussia  and  Austria  to  their 
original  condition,  and  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  empire 
of  Russia.  But  these  are  speculations.  I  look  at  the  politi- 
cal transactions  of  Europe,  with  the  single  exception  of  their 
possible  bearing  upon  us,  as  I  do  at  the  history  of  other 
countries,  or  other  times.  I  do  not  survey  them  with  half 
the  interest  that  I  do  the  •  movements  in  South  America. 
Our  political  relation  with  them  is  much  less  important  than 
it  is  supposed  to  be.  I  have  no  fears  of  French  or  English 
subjugation.  If  we  are  united,  we  are  too  powerful  for  the 
mightiest  nation  in  Europe,  or  all  Europe  combined.  If  we 


408  HISTORICAL  AND 

are  separated  and  torn  asunder,  we  shall  become  an  easy  prey 
to  the  weakest  of  them.  In  the  latter  dreadful  contingency, 
our  country  will  not  be  worth  preserving. 

"  Next  to  the  notice  which  the  opposition  has  found  itself 
called  upon  to  bestow  upon   the  French  emperor,  a  distin- 

§uished  citizen  of  Virginia,  formerly  president  of  the  United 
tates,  has  never  for  a  moment  failed  to  receive  their  kind- 
est and  and  most  respectful  attention.  An  honorable  gentle- 
man from  Massachusetts,  [Mr.  Quincy,]  of  whom  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  it  becomes  necessary  for  me,  in  the  course  of  my 
remarks,  to  take  some  notice,  has  alluded  to  him  in  a  remark- 
able manner.  Neither  his  retirement  from  public  office,  his 
eminent  services,  nor  his  advanced  age,  can  exempt  this  pat- 
riot from  the  coarse  assaults  of  party  malevolence.  No,  sir. 
In  1801,  he  snatched  from  the  rude  hand  of  usurpation  the 
violated  constitution  of  his  country,  and  that  is  his  crime. 
He  preserved  that  instrument,  in  form,  and  substance,  and 
spirit,  a  precious  inheritance  for  generations  to  come ;  and  for 
this  he  can  never  be  forgiven.  How  vain  and  impotent  is 
party  rage,  directed  against  such  a  man  !  He  is  not  more 
elevated  by  his  lofty  residence  upon  the  summit  of  his  own 
favorite  mountain,  than  he  is  lifted,  by  the  serenity  of  his 
mind,  and  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life,  above  the 
malignant  passions  and  bitter  feelings  of  the  day.  No !  his 
own  beloved  Monticello  is  not  less  moved  by  the  storms  that 
beat  against  its  sides,  than  is  this  illustrious  man  by  the 
bowlings  of  the  whole  British  pack,  set  loose  from  the  Essex 
kennel !  When  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  have  been  com- 
pelled to  allude,  shall  have  mingled  his  dust  with  that  of 
his  abused  ancestors,  when  he  shall  have  been  consigned  to 
oblivion,  or,  if  he  lives  at  all,  shall  live  only  in  the  treason- 
able annals  of  a  certain  junto,  the  name  of  Jefferson  will 
be  hailed  with  gratitude,  his  memory  honored  and  cherished 
as  the  second  founder  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  the 
period  of  his  administration  will  be  looked  back  to,  as  one 
of  the  happiest  and  brightest  epochs  of  American  history — 
an  oasis  in  the  midst  of  a  sandy  desert.  But  I  beg  the 
gentleman's  pardon;  he  has  indeed  secured  to  himself  a 
more  imperishable  fame  than  I  had  supposed :  I  think  it  was 
about  four  years  ago  that  he  submitted  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, an  initiative  proposition  for  the  impeachment  of 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  409 

Mr.  Jefferson.  The  House  condescended  to  consider  it.  The 
gentleman  debated  it  with  his  usual  temper,  moderation,  and 
urbanity.  The  House  decided  upon  it  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  and,  although  the  gentleman  had  somehow  obtained 
ft  second,  the  final  vote  stood,  ONE  for,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  against,  the  proposition ! 

"  But,  sir,  I  must  speak  of  another  subject,  which  I  neveV 
think  of  but  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  awe.  The  gentle- 
man from  Massachusetts,  in  imitation  of  some  of  his  prede- 
cessors of  1799,  has  entertained  us  with  a  picture  of  cabinet 
plots,  presidential  plots,  and  all  sorts  of  plots,  which  have 
been  engendered  by  the  diseased  state  of  the  gentleman's 
imagination.  I  wish,  sir,  that  another  plot,  of  a  much  more 
serious  and  alarming  character — a  plot  that  aims  at  the  dis- 
memberment of  our  Union — had  only  the  same  imaginary 
existence.  But  no  man  who  has  paid  any  attention  to  the 
tone  of  certain  prints,  and  to  transactions  in  a  particular 
quarter  of  the  Union,  for  several  years  past,  can  doubt  the 
existence  of  such  a  plot.  It  was  far,  very  far,  from  my 
intention  to  charge  the  opposition  with  such  a  design.  No, 
I  believe  them  generally  incapable  of  it.  But  I  cannot  say 
as  much  for  some,  who  have  been  unworthily  associated  with 
them,  in  the  quarter  of  the  Union  to  which  I  have  referred. 
The  gentleman  can  not  have  forgotten  his  own  sentiment, 
uttered  even  on  the  floor  of  this  House,  '  Peaceably  if  we  can, 
forcibly  if  we  must/  nearly  at  the  very  time  Henry's  mis- 
sion to  Boston  was  undertaken.  The  flagitiousness  of  that 
embassy  had  been  attempted  to  be  concealed,  by  directing 
the  public  attention  to  the  price  which,  the  gentleman  says, 
was  given  for  the  disclosure.  As  if  any  price  could  change 
the  atrociousness  of  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain, 
or  could  extenuate,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the*  offense  of 
those  citizens  who  entertained  and  deliberated  upon  a  propo- 
sition so  infamous  and  unnatural!  There  was  a  most 
remarkable  coincidence  between  some  of  the  things  which 
that  man  states,  and  certain  events  in  the  quarter  alluded 
to.  In  the  contingency  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  it  will 
be  recollected,  that  the  neutrality  and  eventual  separation  of 
that  section  of  the  Union  was  to  be  brought  about.  How,  sir, 
has  it  happened,  since  the  declaration  of  war,  that  British 
officers  in  Canada  have  asserted  to  American  officers,  that  this 
35 


410  HISTORICAL  AND 

very  neutrality  would  take  place  ?  That  they  have  so  asserted 
can  be  established  beyond  controversy.  The  project  is  not 
brought  forward  openly,  with  a  direct  avowal  of  the  intention. 
No,  the  stock  of  good  sense  and  patriotism  in  that  portion  of 
the  country  is  too  great  to  be  undisguisedly  encountered.  It 
is  assailed  from  the  masked  batteries  of  friendship,  of  peace 
and  commerce,  on  the  one  side,  and  by  the  groundless  impu- 
tation of  opposite  propensities  on  the  other.  The  affections 
of  the  people  there  are  to  be  gradually  undermined.  The 
project  is  suggested  or  withdrawn ;  the  diabolical  dramatis 
personce,  in  this  criminal  tragedy,  make  their  appearance  or 
exit,  as  the  audience  to  whom  they  address  themselves,  ap- 
plaud or  condemn.  I  was  astonished,  sir,  in  reading  lately, 
a  letter,  or  pretended  letter,  published  in  a  prominent  print 
in  that  quarter,  and  written,  not  in  the  fervor  of  party  zeal, 
but  coolly  and  dispassionately,  to  find  that  the  writer  affected 
to  reason  about  a  separation,  and  attempted  to  demonstrate 
its  advantages  to  the  different  portions  of  the  Union — deplor- 
ing the  existence  now  of  what  he  terms  prejudices  against  it, 
but  hoping  for  the  arrival  of  the  period  when  they  shall  be 
eradicated.  But,  sir,  I  will  quit  this  unpleasant  subject, 
o  o--j  o  o  o  o  o 

"  The  war  was  declared  because  Great  Britain  arrogated 
to  herself  the  pretension  of  regulating  our  foreign  trade, 
under  the  delusive  name  of  retaliatory  orders  in  council — a 
pretension  by  which  she  undertook  to  proclaim  to  American 
enterprise,  *  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  further ' — orders 
which  she  refused  to  revoke,  after  the  alleged  cause  of  their 
enactment  had  ceased ;  because  she  persisted  in  the  practice 
of  impressing  American  seamen ;  because  she  had  instigated 
the  Indians  to  commit  hostilities  against  us  ;  and  because  she 
refused  indemnity  for  her  past  injuries  upon  our  commerce. 
I  throw  out  of  the  question  other  wrongs.  The  war,  in  fact, 
was  announced,  on  our  part,  to  meet  the  war  which  she  was 
waging  on  her  part.  So  undeniable  were  the  causes  of  the 
war,  so  powerfully  did  they  address  themselves  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  whole  American  people,  that  when  the  bill  was 
pending  before  this  House,  gentlemen  in  the  opposition, 
although  provoked  to  debate,  would  not,  or  could  not,  utter 
one  syllable  against  it.  It  is  true,  they  wrapped  themselves 
up  in  sullen  silence,  pretending  they  did  not  choose  to  debate 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  411 

such  a  question  in  secret  session.  While  speaking  of  the 
proceedings  on  that  occasion,  I  beg  to  he  admitted  to  advert 
to  another  fact  which  transpired — an  important  fact,  material 
for  the  nation  to  know,  and  which  I  have  often  regretted  had 
not  been  spread  upon  our  journals.  My  honorable  colleague 
[Mr.  McKee]  moved,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  to  compre- 
hend France  in  the  war ;  and  when  the  question  was  taken 
upon  the  proposition,  there  appeared  but  ten  votes  in  support 
of  it,  of  whom  seven  belonged  to  this  side  of  the  house,  and 
three  only  to  the  other !  It  is  said  that  we  were  inveigled 
into  the  war  by  the  perfidy  of  France ;  and  that,  had  she 
furnished  the  document  in  time,  which  was  first  published  in 
England,  in  May  last,  it  would  have  been  prevented.  I  will 
concede  to  gentlemen  everything  they  ask  about  the  injustice 
of  France  toward  this  country.  I  wish  to  God  that  our 
ability  was  equal  to  our  disposition  to  make  her  feel  the 
sense  that  we  entertain  of  that  injustice.  The  manner  of 
the  publication  of  the  paper  in  question,  was,  undoubtedly, 
extremely  exceptionable.  But  I  maintain,  that,  had  it  made 
its  appearance  earlier,  it  would  not  have  had  the  effect  sup- 
posed ;  and  the  proof  lies  in  the  unequivocal  declarations  of 
the  British  government.  I  will  trouble  you,  sir,  with  going 
no  further  back  than  to  the  letters  of  the  British  minister, 
addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  just  before  the  expiration 
of  his  diplomatic  functions.  It  will  be  recollected  by  the 
committee,  that  he  exhibited  to  this  government  a  dispatch 
from  Lord  Castlereagh.  in  which  the  principle  was  distinctly 
avowed  that,  to  produce  the  effect  of  a  repeal  of  the  orders 
in  council,  the  French  decrees  must  be  absolutely  and  entirely 
revoked  as  to  all  the  world,  and  not  as  to  America  alone.  A 
copy  of  that  despatch  was  demanded  of  him,  and  he  very  awk- 
wardly evaded  it.  But  on  the  10th  of  June,  after  the  bill 
declaring  war  had  actually  passed  this  House,  and  was  pending 
before  the  Senate,  (and  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  was  known 
to  him,)  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Munroe,  he  says :  '  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  saying,  sir,  that  Great  Britain,  as  the  case  has 
hitherto  stood,  never  did,  and  never  could,  engage,  without 
the  greatest  injustice  to  herself  and  her  allies,  as  well  as  to 
other  neutral  nations,  to  repeal  her  orders,  as  affecting  America 
alone,  leaving  them  in  force  against  other  states,  upon  con- 
dition that  France  would  except,  singly  and  specially,  America 


412  HlSTOKICAL   AND 

from  the  operation  of  her  decrees/  On  the  14th  of  the  same 
month,  the  bill  still  pending  before  the  Senate,  he  repeats: 
*  I  will  now  say,  that  I  feel  entirely  authorized  to  assure  you, 
that  if  you  can,  at  any  time,  produce  a  full  and  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  French  decrees,  as  you  have  a  right  to  demand 
it,  in  your  character  of  a  neutral  nation,  and  that  it  be  dis- 
engaged from  any  question  concerning  our  maritime  rights, 
we  shall  be  ready  to  meet  you  with  a  revocation  of  the  orders 
in  council.  Previously  to  your  producing  such  an  instrument, 
which  1  am  sorry  to  see  you  regard  as  unnecessary,  you  can 
not  expect  of  us  to  give  up  our  orders  in  council.7  Thus,  sir, 
you  see  that  the  British  government  would  not  be  content 
with  a  repeal  of  the  French  decrees  as  to  us  only.  But  the 
French  paper  in  question  was  such  a  repeal.  It  could  not, 
therefore,  satisfy  the  British  government.  It  could  not, 
therefore,  have  induced  that  government,  had  it  been  earlier 
promulgated,  to  repeal  the  orders  in  council.  It  could  not, 
therefore,  have  averted  the  war.  The  withholding  of  it  did 
not  occasion  the  war,  and  the  promulgation  of  it  would  not 
have  prevented  the  war.  But  gentlemen  have  contended, 
that,  in  point  of  fact,  it  did  produce  a  repeal  of  the  orders  in 
council.  This  I  deny.  After  it  made  its  appearance  in  Eng- 
land, it  was  declared  by  one  of  the  British  ministry,  in  Par- 
liament, not  to  be  satisfactory.  And  all  the  worlfl  knows 
that  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council  resulted  from  the 
inquiry,  reluctantly  acceded  to  by  the  ministry,  into  the  effect 
upon  their  manufacturing  establishments,  of  our  non-impor- 
tation law,  or  to  the  warlike  attitude  assumed  by  this  gov- 
ernment, or  to  both.  ° 
"It  is  not  to  the  British  principle  [of  allegiance],  objec- 
tionable as  it  is,  that  we  are  alone  to  look ;  it  is  to  her 
practice ;  no  matter  what  guise  she  puts  on.  It  is  in  vain  to 
assert  the  inviolability  of  the  obligation  of  allegiance.  It  is 
vain  to  set  up  the  plea  of  necessity,  and  to  allege  that  she 
cannot  exist  without  the  impressment  of  HER  seamen.  The 
naked  truth  is,  she  comes,  by  her  press-gangs,  on  board  of 
our  vessels,  seizes  OUR  native  as  well  as  naturalized  seamen, 
and  drags  them  into  her  service.  It  is  the  case,  then,  of  the 
assertion  of  an  erroneous  principle,  and  of  a  practice  not 
conformable  to  the  asserted  principle — a  principle  which,  if 
it  were  theoretically  right,  must  be  forever  practically  wrong 


REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  413 

— a  practice  which  can  obtain  countenance  from  no  principle 
whatever,  and  to  submit  to  which,  on  our  part,  would  betray 
the  most  abject  degradation.  We  are  told,  by  gentlemen  in 
the  opposition,  that  government  has  not  done  all  that  was 
incumbent  on  it  to  do,  to  avoid  just  cause  of  complaint  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain  ;  that  in  particular  the  certificates 
of  protection,  authorized  by  the  act  of  1796,  are  fraudulently 
used.  Sir,  government  has  done  too  much,  in  granting  those 
paper  protections.  I  can  never  think  of  them  without  being 
shocked.  They  resemble  the  passes  which  the  master  grants 
to  his  negro  slave :  '  Let  the  bearer,  Mungo,  pass  and  repass 
without  molestation.'  What  do  they  imply?  That  Great 
Britain  has  a  right  to  seize  all  who  are  not  provided  with 
them.  From  their  very  nature,  they  must  be  liable  to  abuse 
on  both  sides.  If  Great  Britain  desires  a  mark  by  which 
she  can  know  her  own  subjects,  let  her  give  them  an  ear 
mark.  The  colors  that  float  from  the  mast-head  should  be 
the  credentials  of  our  seamen.  There  is  no  safety  to  us,  and 
the  gentlemen  have  shown  it,  but  in  the  rule  that  all  who 
sail  under  the  flag  (not  being  enemies)  are  protected  by  the 
flag.  It  is  impossible  that  this  country  should  ever  abandon 
the  gallant  tars,  who  have  won  for  us  such  splendid  trophies. 
Let  me  suppose  that  the  genius  of  Columbia  should  visit  one 
of  them  in  his  oppressor's  prison,  and  attempt  to  reconcile 
him  to  his  forlorn  and  wretched  condition.  She  would  say 
to  him,  in  the  language  of  gentlemen  on  the  other  side : 
'  Great  Britain  intends  you  no  harm ;  she  did  not  mean  to 
impress  you,  but  one  of  her  own  subjects;  having  taken  you 
by  mistake,  I  will  remonstrate,  and  try  to  prevail  upon  her, 
by  peaceable  means,  to  release  you ;  but  I  can  not,  my  son, 
fight  for  you.'  If  he  did  not  consider  this  mere  mockery,  the 
poor  tar  would  address  her  judgment,  and  say :  '  You  owe  me, 
my  country,  protection  ;  I  owe  you,  in  return,  obedience.  I 
am  no  British  subject;  I  am  a  native  of  old  Massachusetts, 
where  lived  my  aged  father,  my  wife,  my  children.  I  have, 
faithfully  discharged  my  duty.  Will  you  refuse  to  do  yours  ?' 
Appealing  to  her  passions  he  would  continue :  '  I  lost  this  eye 
in  fighting  under  Truxton,  with  the  Insurgente  ;  I  got  this 
scar  before  Tripoli ;  I  broke  this  leg  on  board  the  Constitu- 
tion, when  the  Guerriere  struck/  If  she  remained  still 
35* 


414  HISTORICAL  AND 

unmoved,  he  would  break  out  in  the  accents  of  mingled  dis- 
tress aijd  despair, 

'  Hard,  hard  is  my  fate!  once  I  freedom  enjoyed, 
Was  as  happy  as  happy  could  be ! 
Oh!  how  hard  is  my  fate,  how  galling  these  chains!' 

I  will  not  imagine  the  dreadful  catastrophe  to  which  he  would 
be  driven  by  an  abandonment  of  him  to  his  oppressor.  It 
will  not  be,  it  cannot  be  that  his  country  will  refuse  him 
protection.'7 

Having  shown  by  documentary  evidence  that  there  was 
nothing  in  the  alleged  repeal  of  the  British  orders  in  council 
that  could  constitute  a  ground  of  pacification,  Mr.  Clay  pro- 
ceeded to  the  consideration  of  other  points  of  attack  from  the 
opposition.  The  focus  of  the  fires  that  were  poured  in,  he 
sent  back  his  scorching  flames  on  the  assailants  of  the  admin- 
istration. When  they  averred  that  those  most  interested  in 
impressment  were  most  opposed  to  the  war,  he  taunted  this 
lack  of  humanity,  and  pointed  to  the  sympathy  of  the  West,  to 
shame  them  for  such  an  avowal.  He  could  not  believe  they 
would  so  libel  themselves,  or  that  they  had  done  justice  to  their 
constituents.  Did  not  the  latter  sympathise  with  their  wes'tern 
brethren,  exposed  to  the  Indian  tomahawk?  No  matter 
whether  an  American  citizen  seeks  subsistence  amid  the 
dangers  of  the  deep,  or  draws  it  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  or  from  agriculture,  or  from  the  humblest  occupations 
of  mechanic  life — whatever  be  his  vocation — the  rights  of 
American  freemen  are  sacred,  and  when  assailed,  all  hearts 
should  unite,  and  every  arm  be  braced,  to  vindicate  his  cause. 
But  the  rights  of  seamen,  who  brave  the  hardships  and  perils 
of  the  deep,  in  bold  adventure  for  the  common  good  as  well 
as  for  their  own  personal  advantage,  are  especially  sacred. 

Continuing  in  this  sarcastic  vein,  well  provoked,  Mr.  Clay 
said : — 

"  When  the  administration  was  striving,  by  the  operation 
of  peaceful  measures,  to  bring  Great  Britain  back  to  a  sense 
t)f  justice,  they  were  for  old-fashiorfed  war.  And  now  they  have 
got  old-fashioned  war,  their  sensibilities  are  cruelly  shocked 
and  all  their  sympathies  lavished  upon  the  harmless  inhabit- 
ants of  the  adjoining  provinces.  What  does  a  state  of  war 
present  ?  The  united  energies  of  one  people  arrayed  against 


KEVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS.  415 

the  combined  energies  of  another  ;  a  conflict  in  which  each 
party  aims  to  inflict  all  the  injury  it  can,  by  sea  and  land, 
upon  the  territories,  property,  and  citizens  of  the  other — sub- 
ject only  to  the  rules  of  mitigated  war,  practised  by  civilised 
nations.  The  gentlemen  would  not  touch  the  continental 
provinces  of  the  enemy,  nor,  I  presume,  for  the  same  reason, 
her  possessions  in  the  West  Indies.  The  same  humane  spirit 
would  spare  the  seamen  and  soldiers  of  the  enemy.  The 
sacred  person  of  his  majesty  must  not  be  attacked ;  for  the 
learned  gentlemen,  on  the  other  side,  are  quite  familiar  with 
the  maxim  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong.  Indeed,  sir,  I 
know  of  no  person  on  whom  we  may  make  war,  upon  the 
principles  of  the  honorable  gentleman,  but  Mr.  Stephen,  the 
celebrated  author  of  the  orders  in  council,  or  the  board  of 
admiralty,  who  authorize  and  regulate  the  practice  of  im- 
pressment ! 

"  The  disasters  of  the  war  admonish  us,  we  are  told,  of  the 
necessity  of  terminating  the  contest.  If  our  achievements 
by  land  have  been  less  splendid  than  those  of  our  intrepid 
seamen  by  water,  it  is  not  because  the  American  soldier  is 
less  brave.  On  the  one  element,  organization,  discipline,  and 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  duties,  exist,  on  the  part  of 
the  officers  and  their  men.  On  the  other,  almost  everything 
is  yet  to  be  acquired.  We  have,  however,  the  consolation 
that  our  country  abounds  with  the  richest  materials,  and  that 
in  no  instance,  when  engaged  in  action,  have  our  arms  been 
tarnished.  At  Brownstown  and  at  Queenstown,  the  valor  of 
veterans  was  displayed,  and  acts  of  the  noblest  heroism  were 
performed.  It  is  true,  that  the  disgrace  of  Detroit  remains 
to  be  wiped  oft'.  That  is  a  subject  on  which  I  cannot  trust 
my  feelings  ;  it  is  not  fitting  I  should  speak.  But  this  much 
I  will  say,  it  was  an  event  which  no  human  foresight  could 
have  anticipated,  and  for  which  the  administration  cannot  be 
justly  censured.  It  was  the  parent  of  all  the  misfortunes 
we  have  experienced  on  land.  But  for  it,  the  Indian  war 
would  have  been,  in  a  great  measure,  prevented  or  termina- 
ted, the  ascendancy  on  Lake  Erie  acquired,  and  the  war 
pushed  on,  perhaps  to  Montreal.  With  the  exception  of  that 
event,  the  war,  even  upon  the  land,  has  been  attended  by  a 
series  of  the  most  brilliant  exploits." 

Fortunately  for  the  country,  the  labors  of  Mr.  Clay  and 


416  HISTORICAL  AND 

his  coadjutors  were  not  in  vain.  The  navy,  on  the  Atlantic 
and  on  the  lakes,  earned  for  itself  an  imperishable  fame,  and 
demonstrated  to  the  full  conviction  of  the  American  people 
— a  most  desirable  result — the  vast  importance  of  sustaining 
and  rendering  efficient  this  arm  of  the  national  strength. 
The  army  nobly  retrieved  its  character,  and  the  war  was 
ended  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  victory  of  New  Orleans,  Jan- 
uary 8,  1815. 


THE  END. 


